


Glasses and Elbow Patches

by AgentOfShip



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fitz is a drama king, Jemma has no chill, Secret Relationship, Teacher-Student Relationship, and they're both the same age, but not before a few chapters, only Jemma already has two PhDs, professor Fitz, smut heavy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2020-08-10 22:49:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20143267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentOfShip/pseuds/AgentOfShip
Summary: It's the start of a new year at Stanford University for Professor Fitz and he has a good feeling about it. It gets even better when he meets the brilliant, beautiful Doctor Jemma Simmons on her first day and they hit it off immediately. Only he quickly realizes Jemma Simmons isn't actually a new professor here and things suddenly get a lot more complicated.A professor/temporary student AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was started during KinkBingo so it's quite heavily smutty although not before a few chapters. Also, it's important to note that Fitz and Simmons are both the same age they are in canon and just meet in unfortunate circumstances. I'd understand if this is a squick but it really isn't your typical student/professor AU and this first chapter should give you all the informations you need if you're hesitating to give the rest of the story a try :)  
A huge thank you to LibbyWeasley who beta'd this story but also helped me a lot to understand how American Universities work and had very helpful suggestions on how to tweak my original idea to make it all work much better :)  
Five chapters already written. Updates approximatively once a week.

It was his fifth year as a professor at Stanford University and, despite the four previous times having gone perfectly well, Fitz was still terribly stressed out on the first day of school. Meeting so many new people at once remained overwhelming, but at least this year, he felt quite optimistic. 

Although it had been a concern for the dean when he'd first hired him, Fitz's young age seemed to be a plus now, and his students actually liked him more and more every year. Some of them seemed to even sincerely appreciate his weird, nerdy sense of humor. In fact, Fitz had even been told there was a waiting list to join his undergrad class and he'd been the most demanded advisor for masters and doctorate students. Bobbi had taken him for an excruciatingly long shopping session a week ago, which meant he had a brand new suit and glasses that he was positive would help him not be confused with a student. Again. And on top of that, she and Hunter were back together, for good it seemed, which meant he wouldn't have to split his time between his two best friends like he did the previous year. As flattering as it had been to be so in demand, he much preferred being able to spend a night out with them when they could talk _to_ each other rather than _about_ each other. Actually, he could probably hitch a ride with Bobbi tonight and have dinner at their place to celebrate the start of a new school year with beer and video games.

With that thought in mind, Fitz pushed open the door to the main entrance and walked right into the young woman standing on the other side. 

"Oh sorry, didn't see you there!" Fitz let out as he instinctively put a hand on her shoulder to make sure she didn't lose her balance because of him.

"Oh no that's me! I was standing in the way," she said, her words overlapping his own as she fumbled with the papers she was holding so they wouldn't fall. "I'm just looking for the dean's office and I thought I was in the right direction but there's a wall I'm pretty sure isn’t on this map…" she trailed off as she looked down at the old printed piece of paper. She'd turned around towards him enough for him to see her face and he now knew three things. First, from her accent, she was apparently English, which wasn't particularly surprising, Stanford had a favorable reputation worldwide and therefore had both professors and students from all around the globe. Second, if she was going to see the dean first thing on the first day of school, she was obviously one of the new professors. He knew there were supposed to be several newcomers in the school of medicine so that was probably it. Although with her neck-tie and neat grey sweater over a white blouse, she looked more like a grown-up Hermione and he would have expected her to teach charms or defense against the dark arts. And third, well, she was just as gorgeous as Fitz would have expected an adult Hermione would be, with her big hazel eyes and loose chocolate curls. Fortunately for him, she looked so confused by her map that she didn't notice him staring at her for what would have been an embarrassingly long moment, before he could remember his manners.

"Oh. Did you take the west staircase?" he asked, then cleared his throat so his voice would resume a more normal tone. 

"Uh… yes," she replied, looking back up at him expectantly. 

"I see what it is then, they still haven't updated the map. They did modifications last year to make room for more professor's offices and they closed part of this hallway, see—" Fitz took a step to stand next to her as he pointed at a specific area on the map. "—so now you actually have to take this hallway here, and then the east staircase to the third floor and then take—" he moved his finger to the part of the map showing the third floor. "—this hallway that leads straight to the dean's office," he finished with an almost apologetic smile. After four years, it all seemed obvious to him, but he remembered feeling like he was in a labyrinth the first few months. He supposed that was the case in most universities but that didn't make it any easier for newcomers.

"Okayyyy…" she trailed off a little uncertainly, her eyes still fixed on the map. 

Oh well, since she was pretty much asking for his help. "I'll walk you there, it'll be much simpler for both of us," Fitz said, trying his best not to sound too eager at the prospect. 

"Oh, no, you don't have to, I'm sure I can find it now with your explanation," she replied with traditional English politeness as she gave him a reassuring smile. 

"Ah no, don't worry, it's my duty to help a fellow countrywoman. And it's on my way anyway." 

It wasn't. But he was early and she didn't need to know.. 

She gave him an even brighter smile and squeezed his arm briefly. "Ah thank you, that's very… gentlemanly of you," she said, scrunching up her nose at her choice of words. Fitz lifted his eyebrows and grinned at her before extending his arms in the right direction. 

"This way m'lady," he said and she let out an adorable watery laugh. 

He'd been called a gentleman and made a beautiful woman laugh, and it wasn't even eight in the morning. Yes, Fitz had a very good feeling about this new year. 

-0-0-0-

"Well, that's where I leave you. I'd give you a full tour but I'm sure Dean Pelton will tell you everything you need to know. And probably more," Fitz said as he stopped in front of the big wooden double door. Once you found it, there was surely no mistaking whose office it was. 

"Ah yes, thank you," she replied with a chuckle. "He's rather... chatty for someone with such an important job, isn't he?"

"Ah, of course, you've already met him?"

"Only on the phone, but yes."

"He's really nice though, got a few interesting anecdotes about the school."

Fitz didn't want to look like someone who trash talked people behind their back. 

"Right. Wanna come in and say hi then?" she asked with a mischievous smile. 

"I would but I have a class to teach in half an hour. It would look bad if I was late on the first day!" Fitz replied and she laughed again. He really liked that sound.

"Of course. Well thank you again, Mister…" she said, trailing off as she put a hand on his arm and her eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Oh hmm Fitz, Doctor, hu Professor Leo Fitz," he stuttered and winced at his incapability to say his own name but her face broke into a wide smile.

"Nice to meet you Doctor Professor Leo Fitz, I'm Doctor Doctor Jemma Simmons," she replied, extending her hand for him to shake it. 

He mock-glared at her before gladly accepting her hand. It was ice cold despite the weather still being rather warm but he didn't mind at all. "Doctor Doctor?" he asked.

"Biology and chemistry."

"Wow!" he simply said and her smile turned wider and even warmer it seemed. "And you can call me Fitz," he added. 

"Alright," she replied and Fitz realized there was probably something smooth or funny he could say to end the conversation but the more he racked his brains, the more he came up empty. Sometimes, he wished he was on comms with Hunter or Bobbi all the time so they could suggest something cool to say. 

"Hu Fitz?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to need my hand." 

Fitz looked down and realized, horrified, that he'd never let go of it. "Oh god, I'm so sorry," he let out, taking her hand in his other hand for some reason, and pushing it back towards her, like he actually needed to _give_ her hand back to her and couldn't just let go. Like a normal person. "Sorry," he said once more, feeling his cheeks grow hot.

"That's alright, and my hand's warmer now," she said rubbing it with the other as she let out another one of those pretty laughs.

"I'll see you around then, Doctor Doctor Simmons," Fitz said with a crooked grin, before he did anything stupid again. 

"Just Jemma is fine," she corrected. "And I will most definitely see you around," she added, giving him another wide smile before turning around and walking the last few feet to the dean's office. 

It took another moment for Fitz to react but then he finally turned around and walked back towards the stairs and down to the second floor to get a few things done in his office before his first class. He didn't know if he should feel more embarrassed for acting so awkward or happy that she did seem to appreciate him. They had a short but rather nice conversation on the way to the dean's office. He'd learned that she was from Sheffield but had been in the US since she was sixteen, just like him. And she did smile a lot, and laughed, and had even touched him of her own free will a few times. She was probably just being friendly and grateful for his help but a small part of him wanted to believe that they had been flirting. 

Well, unlike the times they went to the bar and Hunter convinced him that he had it in him to talk to a woman there (he usually didn't), Jemma would be teaching here for at least a semester he supposed, which would give him other opportunities to come off as funny and smart. And not by throwing all his titles at her face. When he first came to teach at Stanford by Bobbi and his old professor's invitation, Bobbi had insisted that it would also be an opportunity for him to meet new people. It was a huge campus with supposedly plenty of smart, nice and pretty professors who would be all over his sexy Scottish accent. And there were indeed several pretty, nice women here, but none that was especially impressed by his accent or who he felt a connection going deeper than chatting over coffee in the professor's break room. But he really had a good feeling about Jemma. She was from Sheffield so he doubted his accent would win any points with her but there was… something. He couldn't really pinpoint what it was but it kept a smile on his face for a long time after their conversation ended. 

Yes, he really had a good feeling about this new year.

-0-0-0-

Fitz's first class went pretty well in his opinion. It was an undergrad second year class so he knew most of the students already. And despite a few suspicious questions about his new glasses, the atmosphere was really good and students seemed happy to have him as a professor for another semester. 

He just had a meeting with the head of his department and the students he'd be advising this year before lunch, and then he could spend the afternoon preparing his Thursday labs and take care of all the paperwork that seemed to magically appear on his desk the moment he stepped foot into the building after the summer holidays. 

Fitz took a deep breath before entering the room. It was always a mix of stressful and exciting to be here. He loved teaching undergrads and trying to infuse passion in them, hoping a good portion of them would be convinced by his love of engineering. But the new students he'd be advising for a year or two would most likely make it their career. It would be some fascinating work and Fitz couldn't let them down. Not to mention that if he did good, it would put him well on his way to being tenured. 

The room looked to be fuller than the last time and it filled Fitz with a sense of pride that made his lips pull up into a smile. There were a few raised faces when he walked in and more than a few surprised expressions when they realized Fitz wasn't one of them and came to sit next to Professor Smith. They still had ten minutes before the appointed time for the meeting and, after the exchange of the usual niceties with his colleague, Fitz gave his opening speech one last look and made sure he also had his physics jokes sheet. He always tried to have a few ones ready in case the mood seemed a little too tense. He knew he didn't have it in him to be the impressive kind of professor who inspired respect simply by his presence but he usually managed to win the students over with his passion, intelligence and unusual methods.

When it was time to start, Fitz took off his jacket (he thought he looked serious enough already with his vest and glasses) and looked up at Professor Smith who just nodded at him to give the go-ahead.

This moment was always intimidating and Fitz always had the silly fear that his voice would get all squeaky, and there were all these new faces that—

Oh. 

All these new faces and one that was familiar already. Doctor Doctor Jemma Simmons. His new student Doctor Doctor Jemma Simmons.

Well, there went his hope for a love life. 

-0-0-0-

"Hi again."

Fitz startled and turned around. He'd taken a very long time to gather his things, on purpose, and thought everyone had left a long time ago. But of course, the one person he'd been trying to avoid was standing next to the door, kind of awkwardly moving from one foot to the other as she hugged her books to her chest. Ugh. Did she really have to be so cute? He knew he couldn't avoid her very long since he already had one scheduled meeting with her every week and would probably see her even more often than that. But she was a student and even though he wasn't sure on her part, he'd definitely flirted with her earlier, very awkwardly, and now he felt like the biggest idiot.

"Hi," he simply replied and she gave him a soft and slightly embarrassed smile. 

"I-I just wanted to apologize."

"For what?" he asked as he took a step back and checked the lock once more. For being completely brilliant on top of being charming and gorgeous? Of course the two PhDs at such a young age were kind of a giveaway, but the past two hours had just confirmed it. She might be the brightest person he had ever advised and honestly, did she even really need him at all?

"I feel like I've misled you. But it wasn't intentional. It's only once I was in the dean's office that I realized you probably thought I was another professor, what with me already having two PhDs and all that…" 

"Ah, that's alright, I shouldn't have made assumptions—"

"And I only realized who you were when you said your name, and then I thought when you said you'd see me around that you knew you were my advisor, which is stupid of course because you can't possibly know the names of every one before the start of the year but—"

"No problem really. And actually, I suppose I could have taken the time to read the list of students coming to the meeting so..." he trailed off and she gave him a big warm smile he had no choice but to reciprocate. 

"Alright then. I would have recognized you sooner but I didn't know you were Scottish, and you really don't look like your picture on the University website," she said with an amused smiled and Fitz chuckled. He didn't like having his picture taken very much so it was either that picture from Hunter and Bobbi's wedding five years ago or any of the most recent pictures Bobbi had taken of him at the bar. So he had to go with clean shaven and looking uncomfortable but with a nice suit, good lighting and no beer in his hand.

"Yeah, it's an old one but— Wait. You hum, you looked me up?" he cut himself off, feeling oddly pleased for the interest, although probably not in the way he should.

"Well yes, you don't think I would have chosen just any advisor. I had to fight to be with you and not Dr Jetson. You're very popular, you know," she said, flashing him a wide grin, making his cheeks heat up instantly. Which was really terrible, because however flirty that might sound or look, she was a student and, despite the hope he might have had earlier, she'd never be anything more.

"Ah… hu yeah, I suppose it helps that I barely look older than most of my students." 

_She_ might actually be older than he was for all he knew, although he thought she looked roughly the same age, so really, it wasn't— No! He couldn't let his mind go there.

"So… Why are you even here? You thought two PhDs were for losers and thought you also needed a masters degree?" he asked and she laughed lightly. 

"Ah no, not exactly no. I've been denied a department head job because I was supposedly too focused on biochem so I decided to add another discipline to my resume. I had taken quite a few extra classes while working on my PhDs so I qualified for a Master's degree in engineering. And I know it's a two year program but you'll find that I'm a very quick learner and the dean seems to believe that I'll be able to finish it under a year if I take extra classes. Which would be ideal for my career. And you seem to be the best qualified to help me do that so… that's why I'm here."

"Wow. That's-that's very flattering. And also quite pressuring, right?" 

He must have looked a little worried because she shook her head as she smiled warmly.

"No but really, we haven't had the time to go into too many details about my research but I have a good feeling about it, you know? I mean, you did stumble upon me first thing this morning. Has to be fate!" she said, scrunching up her nose at her own choice of words once more before shaking her head and giving his arm a gentle squeeze. 

He didn't say anything and just looked at her hand, and back at her face with an awfully awkward smile as he tried to think of something to say. After an excruciatingly long moment, she cleared her throat.

"Well, I won't bother you any longer."

"Oh no, you're not bothering me at all! Actually, I don't have any other classes today so I'll—"

"I do, and it's quite soon actually." 

"Oh. Of course," he replied and she gave him a warm smile. It was a good thing she didn't seem to mind his awkwardness because he had a feeling there would be a lot more of it whenever she was in the room.

"Well I'll see you on Thursday morning, Fitz," she said as they started walking in the same, only possible, direction. "Oh sorry, I guess it's Professor Doctor Fitz now?"

"Oh no. Please, Fitz is fine really, you have more PhDs than I do, anyway."

"But the others might not like me getting special treatment."

She looked a little disappointed though.

"Oh right," he replied. He supposed it was probably for the best that they didn't get too familiar. "Well then, Doctor Fitz it is."

"And I'll let you drop one Doctor," she said before giving him a small nod and turning right towards the stairs while he remained stuck. Where was he supposed to go now? Oh right, his office and then the cafeteria. He turned right as well and walked for about twenty feet before remembering where his office was and turning back around to go the other way.

"I wouldn't mind giving her special treatment," Fitz thought. "Oh no! Gross! I need to spend less time with Bobbi and Hunter and find myself some new friends. Friends with a lovely English accent, hazel eyes, full lips and—" 

Fitz shook his head as he tried to get rid of the distracting images forming in his mind. His very fertile imagination could really be a nuisance sometimes. Of all the women in this university, why did he have to develop an instant crush on one of his students? 

Fitz took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. It was just that after all. A crush. He'd be fine, he could deal with it. She was obviously brilliant and gorgeous, no doubt about that, but maybe she had a deep dark secret that made her an awful person. Maybe she was one of those terrible people who chewed with their mouth open, or ordered salad and then stole all your fries. Or maybe she didn't like pets, like, at all. Or… Oh! Maybe she even supported crap teams like Liverpool.

Yeah, that was easy. He just had to discover a deal breaking secret about her, and then he could carry on with treating her like any other student and doing his best to get them all their master's degree under two years.

"Oh fuck," he mumbled under his breath as he looked into what was obviously a broom closet and not his office at all. 

Well. At this rate, maybe he wouldn't have to deal with his crush at all. He'd just wander the hallways aimlessly until he passed out and someone would find his skeleton in some closet years from now.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh, is that the time?" Fitz said, looking down at his watch with a grimace, and realizing that he had indeed just spent the last ten minutes of his class having a one on one conversation with his favorite student who didn't even need to be in this class, what with her being a grad student and all that. Way to be discreet about your crush on her, Fitz thought before clearing his throat and talking again. 

"Well, obviously, dielectric polarization is not on the syllabus but it is a fascinating subject so..." Fitz trailed off as he saw intense glaring from all but one encouragingly smiling student. "Anyway, we're done for today. My office hours are tomorrow afternoon but I'll probably be there all afternoon, so feel free to come by if you need help with anything."

And with that, everyone stood up, started picking up their books, and soon the room was all empty but for Fitz and just one other student. 

"It really is a fascinating subject," Jemma said (he called her Jemma in his head, which was probably a bad idea) as she came to sit on the edge of his desk, and he chuckled. "I'm serious," she added. "Do you know how rare it is to find someone who's so passionate about it?" 

"Well, in this classroom at least, I'd say it's pretty rare," he replied with a crooked grin.

She scrunched up her nose in that cute little way that he thought meant she didn't know if she found him funny or weird.

"I should hurry now but I'd really love to talk about it some more, you know," she said, not making a move to stand up and balancing her legs as they hung several inches from the ground. 

"Oh! But I thought you didn't have any classes on Tuesdays?" he asked, then winced internally. It had to look weird that he knew her timetable. But for his defense, she had done this a lot in the past three months. She always stayed much longer than their scheduled two hour study session every week to talk about a topic related to her research or something else entirely. Like asking if he was going home for the holidays (he wasn't) or telling anecdotes from her job that reminded him a lot of his old one. And now she was even coming to some of his other classes, even undergrad ones, to "find inspiration" for her research. And okay, he was the one who suggested it since when she'd mentioned that she was a little rusty with certain notions she hadn't studied for years, but he didn't think she'd actually come so often.

"You're right but I'm volunteering at the animal shelter this afternoon. I thought I'd try something new this year and it's usually rather quiet so I can work a bit when I'm there as well..."

Of course. It was like every conversation was just an opportunity for her to show him how amazing she was. His irritation must have shown because she frowned.

"Is there something wrong? Do you think it's a bad idea to work in a shelter?" 

"What? No! Of course I think it's a good idea," he replied immediately and her face relaxed into a smile once more. "It's just, I-it always makes me sad that there's a need for shelters you know…" 

It wasn't the whole truth but that part was definitely true at least.

"Oh, I know…" she replied, her voice soft as she put a warm hand on his arm. She held his gaze, her head slightly tilted to the side for a moment, before giving his arm a gentle squeeze and hopping off the desk. She was so close to him that he could feel her breath on him. Minty fresh of course. If they'd been on a date, Fitz was pretty sure it would have been a signal that she wanted him to kiss her. Thankfully, the ugly fluorescent lights reminded him where he was, and he broke eye contact before going back to packing his laptop and books. He thought he heard a sigh, but when he turned back to her, she had her usual warm smile. 

"Well, like I said, I'll be in my office all day tomorrow, preparing my next classes, and you're usually the only one who comes to office hours anyway, that should give us plenty of time to talk about dielectric polarization. I mean… if you have nothing better to do, of course," he said as they started walking to the door side by side.

"Oh that'd be nice, but I don't want to bother you if you plan on working…"

"You never bother me."

"Alright then," she said, giving his arm another squeeze. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, see you tomorrow Doctor Simmons."

And with that, she nodded, then turned around and walked towards the stairs. Oh she wasn't a bother, she was a distraction. A bloody wonderful distraction. And despite knowing he could never be with her the way his heart wanted to, he couldn't find the courage to put the prudent distance he should put between them. There was only a little bit of flirting, something quite innocent really, but their conversations were always fascinating, and often passionate and _that_ was really dangerous. Because, at the risk of sounding dramatic, even though he'd never say those thoughts out loud, he was pretty sure that Jemma Simmons was perfect and could be the love of his life, if only a relationship between them wasn't forbidden for a year at best. She was even more brilliant than he'd thought at first, incredibly sweet, generous, and he'd support Liverpool and give her all his fries if she asked him to. And the worst was that sometimes, it looked like she might like him as well. She was, indeed, almost the only one coming during office hours, often under dubious pretexts and stayed much longer than necessary. But then again, it could only be the stimulating conversations that she liked. For someone as bright as her, it must be hard to find someone able to follow her thought process. And even if what he thought was flirting on her part really was that, he couldn’t possibly hold her interest long enough. He’d have to watch her move on and stop looking at him like he was as wonderful as she was before he had a chance to act on his crush. Ultimately, she would graduate and completely disappear from his life and that would surely be the death of him. 

-0-0-0-

Fitz could feel his friend’s annoyingly piercing blue eyes on him. He sighed, shook his head, and re-read the same bloody sentence for the fifth time, trying to make sense of it. Students really were the worst sometimes. He sighed again and somehow felt her gaze intensify, like she was drilling through his skull with her eyes. Honestly, if this was what she had planned on doing, he would have told her to wait for Hunter in her own office. 

"What?" he hissed as he abandoned the idea of grading this paper before going out for lunch, and looked up towards where Bobbi was clearly not working on the rickety old couch next to the door.

"What, what?" 

"You're looking at me."

"That's because you're very pretty today."

He glared at her.

"Fine. I just thought you looked extra Scottish."

"Oh, thank you, you're looking very American yourself," he replied with faux enthusiasm and she rolled her eyes as she closed the book she was clearly not reading anyway and came to sit on the chair opposite him. "What does looking extra Scottish even mean?" he asked once she was settled.

"Grumpy and gloomy, of course," she replied matter of factly. "And maybe a little bit freckled…" she trailed off as she hunched over the desk to look at him more closely. "Have you been in the sun lately?" 

Fitz huffed and moved back in his chair. She grinned. 

"So, what got you all grumpy and gloomy?"

"Nothing."

"Is it a woman?" 

"No," he replied quickly. 

"So it's definitely a woman. What's wrong? She’s not interested by what’s under all that tweed?" 

Fitz sighed. He supposed it was useless to lie to her.

"Actually, I think she might be. Possibly," he let out with another sigh.

"So what's wrong? Is she leaving for Antarctica for five years or something?"

"No!" he cried out, his patience wearing thin. He didn't want to talk about it in the first place and he certainly didn't want to answer stupid questions. 

"Then what?" she asked, kicking his leg under the desk. 

"Oww!" 

She raised her eyebrows at him. Sometimes, he really felt like she'd missed her calling by becoming a chemistry professor instead of an investigator or something. 

"Fine. She's one of my students," he finally let out. 

"Oh Fitz," she said, her posture relaxing and her face softening. "You really have a gift for putting yourself in the most dramatic situations, don't you?" 

Like he needed someone to tell him that.

"Is she hmm… you know... legal?" 

"Of course she is!" Like that was the problem anyway. Even first year students would have to be geniuses not to be legal. 

"Well, and are you sure she's in—"

A knock on the door interrupted her. They looked at the time and then at each other with a surprised expression. It wasn't like Hunter to be early. Or to bother knocking really.

"Come in," Fitz said out loud.

The door opened a second later, and there she was, looking pretty as ever. God, he really hoped his office was soundproof enough for her not to have heard what they just said. 

"Hello," she said with her usual warm smile for him, and then another when she saw Bobbi. 

"Hi," he simply replied, somehow feeling the need to straighten up in his chair. "Doctor Simmons, this is Professor Bobbi Morse, Bobbi, this Doctor Jemma Simmons," he said moving his hand between the two of them, while they shook hands and exchanged a smile.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Jemma said with an enthusiastic smile. 

"You know her?" Fitz asked, surprised. 

"Of course, she has quite the reputation in the field, and in this university," Jemma replied matter of factly.

"Oh." Of course he knew that, he just didn't know how much. 

"Likewise," Bobbi replied before turning to Fitz. "I like her," she said with a wide smile and Jemma's face lit up, making her look, unfairly, even prettier. 

"So hum, I really liked our conversation about dielectric polarization yesterday," Jemma said as she turned back to Fitz.

"Ah yes, me too."

"So I was wondering if you'd like to talk about it over lunch, you know, without the rest of the class glaring at us because we're off topic," she added with a big wide smile and Fitz chuckled. Her hands were fidgeting on the books she was holding, betraying her nervousness and Fitz hated himself for finding it so endearing. He just couldn't allow himself to notice all those things he found sweet about her. "There's this nice little cafe just outside campus, it's very quiet and has all this nice genuinely British food. Thought it'd be a nice place to… hum, talk," she finished, her cheeks tinting pink as she looked at him hopefully.

Was she asking him on a date lunch? That sounded a lot like a date lunch. If she just wanted to eat and talk, they could go to the cafeteria. But no, she wanted to go somewhere nice and quiet. Just the two of them, outside of the University, without any other student or professor. Or maybe, she was just being friendly and thought he'd appreciate a place where they had British food. A look towards Bobbi, with her slightly raised eyebrows and ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, was enough to know that it was definitely a date lunch. Which sounded just as extremely dangerous as it was incredibly tempting. Maybe they could just go as friends, it was alright to be friends with a student, right? But wouldn't that be deception? And if she tried something more than friendly, like even just holding his hand, could he resist? 

Another look towards Bobbi reminded him that he actually didn't have to worry about what to say. 

"Oh. That hum, that would have been… nice, but I already said I'd have lunch with Professor Morse," he replied, and he could see her smile falter immediately. "And my best friend Hunter, who's also her husband," he felt compelled to say, and he was pretty sure she looked a little relieved. 

"Oh, I understand, I—"

"Actually, if you want, we—" Bobbi started but was cut off when Fitz kicked her foot under the desk. She glared at him before starting talking again. "We can eat quickly and bring Fitz back in his office before 1 pm. He'll be here all afternoon grading papers, and I have it on good authority that it doesn't take a lot to distract him, especially with a... fascinating conversation," Bobbi finished, turning to Jemma with a bright smile.

Jemma smiled back at her and turned back to Fitz, looking at him expectantly. 

"Yeah, like she said, I'll be here all day and I'd really love to continue this conversation."

There was that same disappointed look in her eyes for a second, but then her usual smile was back, although it didn't seem to completely reach her eyes. "Alright then, I'll probably be back in the afternoon," she said, and turned around. Without really thinking about it, Fitz stood up and walked her the whole five steps to the door. 

"I'm sorry about lunch," he said as she opened the door, feeling like the worst person in the universe for putting _that_ look on her face. "That really did sound nice."

"That's alright," she said, squeezing his arm gently. "Maybe another time." 

"Yeah." 

Fitz closed the door then came to sit on the side of his desk, facing Bobbi. Strangely enough, she didn't pounce on him immediately. Instead she was looking at her phone.

"So that's her, right?"

"What do you mean?"

Bobbi raised her eyebrows but didn't even bother looking up. Honestly, they were talking about the love of his life he could never be with, she could at least look at him. 

"Yeah, of course that's her," he said, letting out a loud dramatic sigh.

"Right…" she said, finally putting her phone down and looking up at him. "That's what I thought." 

She gave him a soft smile then stood up, and just when he expected a side hug or a sympathetic pat on the back, she punched his shoulder. 

"Oww!" he cried out in actual pain. Bobbi _was_ incredibly strong.

"You idiot!" she said, taking her phone once more and showing him what looked like a scientific journal's paper about Jemma. "Why didn't you tell me she was only twenty-three days younger than you are?"

"Because that doesn't make any difference, I'm still her advisor and it's still forbidden to have a relationship with her!"

"From your files and her whole record, I can also see that she's your best student anyway. By far. So it's not like she'd do it to get any kind of special treatment or better grades," Bobbi insisted and Fitz huffed. He really had to use a better password on his files. But to be fair, he didn't think he'd need it here of all places. 

"Well that doesn't change the way the dean would react if he found out anything happened. And it would be wrong anyway. We might be the same age but a student-professor relationship is sacred and cannot be anything other than platonic," Fitz declared with a loud sigh as he let his head fall back.

"Oh honestly, Fitz!" she huffed, sitting back on her chair as she shook her head. "I'm not telling you to bang her right on this desk, just go for a freaking lunch with her. Enjoy life a bit. At least try to find out if you really like her that much."

"I can't. I-I..." he trailed off and her expression softened.

"You're very far gone, already?"

"Yeah…" 

"Then all the more reasons to do something about it. I mean, have you seen her?" she asked and Fitz looked at her with a confused expression. Of course, he'd seen her. That was one of the problems. And one of the reasons he couldn't casually go out to lunch in a nice, quiet, probably romantic place.

"Okay, she's incredibly obvious when she flirts, which I suppose is kind of cute anyway and probably better with stubborn idiots like you. But she's also really hot and, from her file and all her degrees, I'd say she's even smarter than you are."

"Hey!"

She raised her eyebrows in defiance. She was obviously right about that. And the rest, of course.

"And she wants you really, really bad, so get your head out of your ass and go out for a freaking lunch with her. With how fast her research is progressing," she said, apparently still looking at his personal files. "You'll only be her advisor for one or two semesters and then you can finally take her out for a drink or dinner, or better, bring her home and finally give her what she wants and f—"

"OKAY! Okay, I get the idea," Fitz cut her off, really not needing any new images to feed his imagination. "But you just said it, she's amazing. Don't you think she'll find someone that she doesn't have to wait for for a bloody year or more?"

"Well there are other advisors you know…"

"But she fought to have me as an advisor, I can’t let her down!"

"Well, again, she's a freaking genius, she could probably do it without any advisor at all. So maybe, give her the chance to decide if she'd rather fight for the best advisor or for you," she said, punching his knee more gently this time. "And in any case, don't use me as an excuse to break that poor girl's heart, especially when she dolled herself up just for you. Do you know how long it takes to curl your hair like that?"

Fitz shrugged. So what? He could try and design her a more efficient curling iron to make up for it. Other than that, his hands were tied. 

"Honestly, do something about it or I will!"

"Since when do you like girls?" Fitz asked, grinning. "Oh, no. Have you broken up with Hunter again?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "You know that's not what I meant, smart ass. And you don't know everything about me, Fitzy. And not about your best friend either if you think he would mind me hitting on a girl."

Aaaaand now, he had one more image in his mind that he really, really didn't need. That had backfired on him badly. Was there really no way for him to win at anything with women these days? 

The door opened before Fitz could find any kind of smart retort and Hunter came in. 

"Sorry I'm late, traffic was aw— hey why is Fitz brooding?" 

"Bobbi hit me."

"Bobbi! I told you not to beat the younger kids," Hunter said, mock serious as he bent over to press a kiss on her lips. 

"He started it, and he's being stupid," she replied.

"Hey, don't call him that," he cried out, and Fitz grinned. It was nice to have someone on his side.

"There's this girl. She's gorgeous, really sweet, and smarter than he is," Bobbi continued, ignoring her husband's chastising.

"Hey! You cannot measure intelligence only with grades and—"

"Get a second PhD eight years ago and we'll have that conversation," Bobbi cut him off before turning back to Hunter. "And she's all over him, like really, it's kind of embarrassing to be in the same room, and he's just rejected her."

"Why? What's wrong with her?" Hunter asked and Fitz felt like his friend wouldn't be on his side for much longer. He wasn't a big lover of rules, probably didn't even know there was a specific one about relationships between students and professors. "Oh no, she doesn't like Man U, is that it? She seems like she has a good taste, introduce her to me maybe," he said, grinning and Bobbi punched his shoulder.

"Hey!"

"See?" Fitz said. "She has anger issues."

Bobbi rolled her eyes and started talking again. "She just happens to be one of his students."

"Naughty," Hunter let out, grinning. "Didn't think you had it in you!"

"A student that's 23 days younger than he is," Bobbi provided and Hunter's grin faltered.

"Oh Fitz," he said, taking a few steps towards his friend and… punching his shoulder. 

"Ow! You two deserve each other, you know?" 

Hunter and Bobbi both smiled at him and turned to each other for a kiss. Maybe he didn't like them _that_ much when they were together after all.

"We know," they replied in unison.

"Stop being dramatic, bang the girl and come out for lunch," Hunter said, putting his arm around his friend's shoulders and pulling him towards the door. "Just, maybe not in that order, I'm bloody starving!"

"Oh bloody hell! It's really not that simple, Bobbi, will you please—"

"I'll explain it to him."


	3. Chapter 3

Fitz stretched his arms over his head and closed his eyes, allowing himself a minute of rest. He'd been working without a break since the end of his class earlier that afternoon and it looked like he'd manage to finish before dinner. The Christmas holidays hadn't officially begun until a few hours ago, but the campus already felt deserted. Lots of students had already gone home to see their families and at least half the staff was gone as well. His own floor had been quiet all afternoon. Which probably had something to do with him having been able to work so efficiently. Of course, he had the whole duration of the holidays to grade his student's papers and finish preparing his classes for the beginning of the next semester, but since he couldn't go home, he had decided that, at least, he wouldn't do anything university related after tonight and divide his holiday between video games and his own projects. 

A knock on the door forced him to open his eyes. He contemplated not answering but whoever it was probably saw the light through the glass panel on the door anyway.

"Come in!"

"Hello," Jemma said as she opened the door.

"Oh hi," he replied, straightening up in his seat. "I thought you'd already taken your plane home."

She hadn't come to any of his undergrad classes in the past two weeks and hadn't stayed more than a few minutes to talk to him after their usual Thursday meetings, including the one they had the previous day. It had happened a few times before, of course, but knowing that they wouldn't see each other for weeks, it had hurt that she didn't want to spend just a little more time with him, even just to wish each other happy holidays. Maybe she'd found herself an actual boyfriend to spend time with or maybe _she_ was just moving on from her supposed crush on him. Which really was for the best. Probably. 

"Oh no, change of plans, my parents are coming on Christmas day so I'll stay here for the holidays after all."

"Oh."

"You didn't think I'd leave without saying goodbye, did you?" she added with a big smile, and he chuckled.

"Oh you didn't have to—"

"Of course, I didn't have to, but I still wouldn't have."

Her expression was soft and her smile always made his heart beat a little bit faster, but she remained by the door, standing only one or two steps inside and it was kind of confusing.

"You know you're allowed to come in and sit if you want," he teased, and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. 

"I know, I—"

"Or do you need me to invite you to sit, like a vampire?" 

She huffed.

"You've already invited me in, vampires don't need to be invited to sit, Doctor Fitz," she said, matter of factly as she took a few more steps inside but still didn't sit down.

"Well, I stand corrected Professor Van Helsing," he replied with a smirk. 

"That's Doctor Professor Van Helsing. And actually, I can't stay long."

"Oh," he said, trying not to let his disappointment show, then chastising himself internally for being so weak. Only seconds ago, he was thinking that it would be better if she didn't have a crush on him anymore, and now he didn't want her to go.

"I'm going out for a drink with a few of your other students… it'd be nice if you came with us. To celebrate the end of the semester," she said, her smile soft and hopeful and he felt like an absolute jerk because of course he had to say no once more. 

"Ah that's nice of you to ask but you don't want to go to the bar with your old professor," he replied and she burst out laughing, finally coming to sit in the chair opposite him. 

"You know that—" she started, still a little breathless. "You know that glasses and elbow patches don't actually _make_ you older, right? You're twenty-three days older than I am and no more than three or four years older than most students you're advising." Fitz raised his eyes at the very precise piece of information. "I told you I did my research!" she added with a grin and he huffed.

"But if I can reassure you, I was designated to come and ask you because I'm the oldest… and because I'm your favorite student, obviously," she said, leaning over his desk to look at him with a very dangerous smile. 

"Are you really?" he asked with a teasing smile and acting more confident than he felt. 

"You know I am." 

"Well, that's exactly the kind of things I can't tell. Wouldn't be fair to the others," he replied, his body leaning closer of its own volition.

"I won't tell them you did if you come have a drink."

"I didn't say anything."

"But they don't know that," she replied, biting her lip not to smile too wide. 

Fitz leaned back in his chair. She was dangerous. The whole situation was very dangerous. And he was really weak because he could feel himself falter and knew he wouldn't be able to resist much longer. He didn't have Bobbi and Hunter as an excuse this time. It had been a month since the last time and he'd tried not to think too hard about what they'd told him. Whatever Jemma's age and degrees, she was still a student and a relationship between them was forbidden. End of discussion. He loved working on her research with her and that would have to be enough. But a drink with a group of students, he didn't think there was a rule against that. And it couldn't possibly be romantic if it wasn't just the two of them.

"Come on," she insisted. "I'm sure you have some great Scottish wisdom about beer or something to share with the youngsters." 

He did have wisdom to share. 

"But I have work to finish here, I don't want to bring it home during the holidays," he protested weakly.

"And how much longer do you need?" she asked. He had a feeling she'd be a terrifying boss. The kind that when she asked you how long a project would take, you'd say half the time you needed because you were scared and at the same time, didn't want to disappoint her.

"You won't take no for an answer, will you?" he finally let out, sighing in defeat. Not that it would be a hardship, quite the contrary in fact. He just didn't like to lose against his own weakness. 

She gave him a bright smile. 

"Come on, it's just one drink and i'll escort you back here myself if I have to," she said before extending her arm and gently closing her hand around his arm. Her eyes were locked on his and he found that being weak could feel awfully good. 

"Alright, one drink."

-0-0-0-

Two hours later, Fitz was in the middle of his second pint and feeling pleasantly buzzed. After he'd destroyed everyone at pool but still graciously paid for a round of actual real beer (which meant any Scottish brand coming from him, of course), most of them had decided to play darts and Fitz, that he'd rather stay on a victory. He'd claimed the last free booth and Jemma had been quick to join him. They'd been talking for an hour, telling each other about all the things they would be missing by not spending Christmas time at home. The combination of alcohol and a different setting made it all very intimate. They had talked about more personal stuff before but it was usually in the middle of a conversation about class or work and they were never quite so… close. He'd noticed her tendency to touch his arm but now that they were sitting side by side in the booth —to hear each other better over the noise of the bar— their knees kept touching, and their arms and hands brushed against each other probably more than necessary. And, of course, there was the matter of her clothes. She was no longer wearing the practical jeans and blouse she usually wore, but a pretty black dress instead. It was nothing scandalous but it had short sleeves, stopped just above the knees and definitely showed more cleavage than usual. It would have been a strange way to dress around Christmas time but then again, it was California. The weather today would have been considered a warm spring day in Scotland. 

"I think it's adorable," Jemma said with a wide grin, interrupting his thoughts. He tended to drift off easily when he'd had a little too much to drink. 

"It probably was when I was eight. Now it's ridiculous," Fitz protested and she shook her head in amusement. 

"Oh come on, matching pyjamas? That's the cutest thing ever! Do you have pictures?" She asked, resting her chin on her hands as she looked up at him with a growing smile. 

"I do," he said, taking his phone out of his pocket to double check that it was locked. "But no one this side of the Atlantic will ever see them!"

"Oh, so does that mean you'll send them when I go home for—"

"No!" he cut her off and she pouted. He hated that he liked her so much when she was a little buzzed as well. She was as smart and sweet and witty as always, but just a little less inhibited. Thus terribly dangerous. "I'm your advisor, I need to inspire respect, not animal patterns pyjamas."

"Oh what kind of animals? Are there monkeys? I bet they're monkey pyjamas!" 

He glared at her and she rolled her eyes dramatically. 

"You do inspire respect, Doctor Fitz, I don't see why you couldn't also inspire adorableness."

He glared harder. 

"Oh fine," she said, lifting up her hands in surrender and he grinned as he nudged her shoulder. He clicked his glass against hers and they both took a few more gulps of their drink in companionable silence.

Her expression turned a little more serious then and she straightened up before apparently changing her mind and leaning closer to him. 

"So, about you being a very respected advisor, there was something I wanted to talk to you about tonight," she said, very consciously putting her hand on his arm. It was cold from having held her drink and it sent a shiver up his spine. Fitz looked down then back up into her eyes. She was smiling at him warmly and her eyes seemed clearer than they'd been just a moment ago. He didn't think he'd ever be able to break eye contact if she kept looking at him like that. 

"Okay…" 

"Well, you've been a truly wonderful advisor, and I'm really glad I fought for you—"

"Oh, that's-that's really nice of you to say but I'm only doing my job and—" 

"No, you're doing much more than just your job," she cut him off, squeezing his arm gently. "And I think every one of your students agrees with me. But what I meant to say in fact was that, despite you doing a really fantastic job, I've started to consider something else, something I think you might have—"

"JEMMA! JEMMA WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!" 

The slightly drunkenly shouts came from the other side of the bar where, hopefully, none of Fitz's students hurt themselves with a dart, interrupting whatever she was about to say. It sounded like it might be getting personal and exactly what he was scared would happen if he had a drink with her. But now that she'd been interrupted, he couldn't say for sure if he felt more relieved or disappointed that he didn't get to hear more. Jemma let out a loud exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes as she turned around to look at them, thus letting go of Fitz's arm. 

"We have a chemistry debate!" Richard, his usually brilliant, but now clearly inebriated, student cried out once he saw he had her attention. "And we need you to settle it!"

"I'm in the middle of a conversation here, Richard, can it wait until—" 

"That's alright," Fitz cut her off. "They won't leave you alone until you help them."

She looked disappointed and hesitant when she looked back at him and Fitz gave her an amused smile. "Better to deal with them when they're only moderately sloshed," he said before nudging her shoulder again. "You're the one who wanted to go out with them."

"Actually, I-I-yeah alright," she said, sighing as she stood up, smoothing her dress down before turning back to him.

"I'm sure it's nothing you can't solve in under five minutes," he said as he stood up as well. "And I needed to use the loo anyway."

Her friends welcomed her like a messiah when she got there and he felt jealous for a second. He'd never been anything but the much younger kid whether it was in university or before, and it never helped him make friends. Getting her PhDs so young, he knew Jemma had gone through the same thing, and it must feel nice to get revenge and become the cool, much wiser, slightly older student. He'd take a year or two off to get one more degree if he wasn't so close to being tenured. 

When he got back from the loo, Jemma was still with her friends, apparently explaining something with the help of an empty pint and three shot glasses. He couldn't hear her over the music and usual noises of a campus-adjacent bar, but she seemed very enthusiastic about whatever she was saying and everyone around seemed very interested in it. There were even a few people listening that weren't students. Fitz smiled as he looked at her. He wasn't the least bit surprised. Her eyes always shone so bright when she talked about science and her voice sounded so much like music that you just had no choice but to listen to her and drink in her every word. God, he— 

"Fuck!" he let out under his breath. His own thoughts were like a bucket of ice water to the face. He couldn't do this anymore. He was too far gone to allow himself to have drinks with her and talk about home in a place with nice music and low lightings. He needed to keep things strictly professional, no conversations about anything but her thesis and never outside of the university's walls. He had to keep it that way or he knew he'd end up doing something that could mess up his career and her reputation.

She had her back to him now, explaining something that seemed to make everyone laugh so Fitz decided to take this opportunity. He retrieved his jacket from their booth and quickly walked away and out the door before she could see him. He knew it was a terribly cowardly and rude thing to do but it was also the safest. Only when he was a good hundred feet away did he send her a text.

to Jemma Simmons: [Thank you for the lovely conversation. Had to leave to finish grading those papers. See you after the holidays.]

-0-0-0-

"Ugh!" Fitz let out in frustration as he flopped back into his chair. He should have known it was a mistake. Grading first years’ papers was already incredibly boring on any normal day, but after two pints, no dinner and an evening out with Doctor Doctor Jemma "possible love of his life" Simmons, he'd never be able to focus long enough to finish. Well, it was the only thing left to do so he'd just do it first thing in the morning and then he could start working on his tight schedule of video games nights with Hunter and eating junk food while pretending he'd go out for a run the next day. And if he still had time left, he'd work on his prototype. 

Alright then, Fitz thought. He just needed ten more minutes of even mild concentration to finish grading the paper in front of him, and then he'd pack it all up and go home. He was probably the last person on campus save for Fred, the security guard, who was probably still snoring on his comic book like he'd been earlier.

Or maybe not. There were footsteps coming his way. Maybe Fred was doing the rounds he was supposed to do after all. The footsteps stopped right in front of his door and as Fitz was about to tell Fred that he'd be leaving soon, the door opened. Fitz straightened up, prepared to glare at whoever it was for not having the politeness to knock first, but then Jemma walked in. She closed the door and came to stand on the other side of his desk. She was panting slightly and looked mightily furious. He probably should have known she'd be mad and wouldn't wait until January to tell him.

"Why did you leave like that?" she asked without preamble. There was a good deal of hurt behind her anger and Fitz wanted to slap himself. Couldn't he do a single thing right? 

"I told you, I had to finish this before—"

"Don't treat me like an idiot on top of being rude!" she cut him off, her eyes shining in a way he'd never seen before and never wanted to see ever again. "You could have come and told me you were leaving, I wasn't exactly in the middle of an advanced chemistry presentation, you know. I could have walked you back here or at least finished telling you what I was in the middle of telling you…" 

Fitz took his head in his hands for a moment before looking back up at her. 

"I-I can’t… that's exactly why I had to leave. Alone," he said, his eyes pleading for her to understand that they just couldn't go there.

"But why, Fitz?" she insisted, her expression stern but with something softer in her eyes now.

He supposed now wasn't the moment to remind her they should stick with Doctor Fitz and Doctor Simmons.

He sighed as he stood and crossed his arms over his chest. "You know why."

His voice was low and his tone weary. He was so tired, physically and emotionally. Why did the first person he ever met that he found so utterly perfect have to be his student? 

"Fine," she said after a moment of silence. "I think I know why. But please, let me finish what I wanted to say earlier."

He nodded reluctantly. His only other option was to put his fingers in his ears and sing out loud not to hear her. Which might make him look really immature and maybe make her reconsider what she was about to tell him so he supposed he could consider it, but the truth was that he also really wanted to hear what she had to say.

"So. I was saying that I think you're a wonderful teacher and all your students are lucky to have you as a professor or an advisor. But I wish I'd met you at least once before fighting to get you as an advisor—"

"What difference would it have—"

"Let me finish," she cut him off with a tone that sounded much harsher than her lovely words. "Because then, I would have also realized what a lovely, funny, sweet, although kind of rude sometimes, man you were, and would have decided to ask Professor Jetson to be my advisor."

"But why would you—"

"And then I would have knocked on your door and asked you out instead of asking you to be advisor," she finished. 

"Jemma…" he whispered.

She took one more step forward.

"I know I cannot rewind time so I did the next best thing," she said, reaching for her phone in her coat pocket.

Fitz frowned as she unlocked it and started looking for something. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean that—" She clicked one last time on her phone and handed it to him. "—starting from 5PM this afternoon, Professor Jetson is my new advisor and I'm no longer your student in any way."

"WHAT?!" he cried out, his eyes widening. She just tilted her head, reminding him to look at her phone. 

It was an email from his department chair telling her that the dean had just approved her change of advisor, followed by the usual niceties. He looked back up at her, his heart hammering in his chest. 

"Before you ask, you should know that I made it look like the problem only came from me, and I think it was even quite flattering for you. And it will in no way affect your chance of getting tenured," she added and Fitz had the very confusing sensation that despite all the questions and thoughts floating around in his brain, nothing would be able to come out. He started pacing and said the only words that managed to come out.

"But why?" 

She huffed.

"Ugh, honestly, Fitz! Didn't you hear a single word I just said?"

"No, I-I, it's not what I… but you can't work with Jetson, he's terrible!" 

Jemma burst out laughing then, and Fitz felt a little vexed.

"I meant it when I said I thought you were the best, but professor Jetson is a very good professor as well and, let's be honest, I could probably work on that thesis on my own if I really wanted to." 

"But that's-that's crazy, you didn't even know how I felt, you don't even know if… I can't let you make this sacrifice for—"

"You're not letting me do anything," she cut him off with that stern expression again. "I made the decision because I wanted to." She took a few steps until she was standing on his side of the desk as well.

"Now here's the thing. I like you. A lot. Enough to do what I just did. And I'm not your student anymore. What are you going to do about it?"


	4. Chapter 4

Her eyes were fixed on him, warm and beautiful, sparkling with something that definitely didn't look like anger anymore. 

"Jemma?" 

"Fitz…" she answered, smiling softly. 

So he pushed his chair out of the way and kissed her. Her hands cradled his cheeks immediately and she kissed him back almost desperately, sighing as if to say "finally". Her lips were soft and warm and tasted of gin, and every doubt he might have had about them not being as compatible as their minds were, evaporated within seconds. Shivers were running down his spine and it had nothing to do with the coldness of her hands. He wound his arms around her back and pulled her closer just as their tongues touched. The kiss quickly grew in intensity as Fitz felt emboldened by the little contented noises Jemma was letting out. His hands were running all over her back, itching to dive under her coat and meet all that lovely skin that had been sending his brain in overdrive all evening. She was doing fantastic things with her tongue and he felt so lightheaded that he actually lost balance. They swayed together for a moment until her bum hit his desk and he managed to regain his balance by gripping her hips tighter. 

She laughed lightly as they broke the kiss. "You should have told me you wanted to dance, I kind of liked the music at the bar," she said against his lips, her voice sparkling with mischief, before capturing them in another searing kiss. He was unable to resist, of course, and let himself be pulled into her embrace. They kissed until they were panting, then separated only long enough for a single deep breath before crashing back together. Fitz didn't think he'd ever felt something so intense for anyone before and he didn't even know what it was yet. Her hands moved down his back to rest on his bum and her appreciative hum sent a rush of heat to his groin, which turned into a groan when she pulled him closer against her, making the bulge in his trousers grow very rapidly. She moaned as she rolled her hips against him in response.

"Jemma, wait," he said, barely managing to take his lips away from hers. "We can't, we cannot do this—"

"But why?" she asked, her voice raspy and desperate as she chased his lips and nibbled on the lower one, making him forget what he was about to say for a second.

"Someone could walk in on us and-and… we had too much to drink, maybe we should talk about it when we're completely clear-headed," he replied and she shook her head with an expression between amusement and exasperation. 

"Fitz," she said as she hopped onto his desk, gaining a few inches and ending up at an height with him. "I'm as clear headed now as I've ever been. If I was ever even slightly buzzed at some point, a fifteen minutes angry walk in the cold would have definitely sobered me up," she said, a flash of anger still showing in her eyes before they softened again. 

"I wasn't drunk when I went to see the dean yesterday, and I wasn't drunk when I decided to dress like this earlier…" As she talked, she untied her scarf and started unbuttoning her coat, and Fitz found that he couldn't take his eyes off her. Even though she was obviously fully dressed under it, it still felt incredibly intimate. Maybe it was because of the moonlight and warm glow of his desk lamp playing over her pale skin, or the way it made her eyes sparkle, or maybe because he was slowly realizing that this beautiful, amazing woman had really woken up one day and decided that he, Leo Fitz, was interesting enough to take risks for and seduce him. 

She pushed her coat off her shoulders, letting it fall behind her on the desk, and Fitz couldn't resist running his fingers up her arm. She shivered at the contact and leaned into his hand as it came to rest lightly on her neck. 

"Fitz, I don't know everything about you yet, and I don't even know if it's going to work between us. But I do know I like you a lot and I love that you're worried I might be doing this under the influence but, believe me, as consent goes, you'll never hear a more enthusiastic one." 

She took his free hand gently and brought it up to rest on her thigh just under the hemline of her dress. It could have been almost innocent. Even if it had ridden up a bit when she sat, her dress wasn't really that short and his hand was resting so lightly that she might not even feel it. But the expression on her face combined with her words left no doubt about her meaning. "That is, if that's what you want as well," she said, her face so close to him once more that her lips grazed his as she spoke. 

She had gotten rid of the only real barrier keeping them apart, and even though Fitz knew it still might not be a good idea for so many other reasons, he didn't have the strength to push her away when she was practically making a demonstration about why he should have sex with her now. Not that he really wanted to.

Bending over slightly, he cupped her face and kissed her again, sweet and slow, but it soon turned much more passionate as she parted her legs and pulled him to stand closer, his upper body pressed tighter against hers.

Jemma quickly unbuttoned his vest then went for his shirt and had it open before Fitz even thought to move the hand still on her thigh. She was a determined woman, that was for sure, and when she put it to work to get _him_, it was the sexiest thing ever. She broke the kiss and buried her face in his neck, gently nibbling at the skin there before going down and mouthing at his pulse point. The sensation of her tongue brushing against his skin went straight to his groin and he finally jumped back into action. He caressed her thigh and stumbled upon naked skin before reaching her knickers.

"Stockings? God, you really thought of everything, haven't you?" he whispered breathlessly as she kept exploring his upper chest with her teeth and tongue.

"Actually, I find those more practical, doesn't leave a mark around the waist. I mean, I wouldn't wear them all day but for—"

"Don't care, they're really hot!" he cut her off and brought her mouth back to his to thrust his tongue between her lips. His hand moved over her knickers and he stroked her folds through the thin cotton before adding more pressure as he searched for her most sensitive spot. She keened into his mouth as her hips jumped up. He kissed her even more hungrily, sliding his fingers into her hair as he held her close to him. Her usually assured hands fumbled with his belt for a moment before she finally had it open and then went for his button and zip more easily. Once it was finally open, she slid her hand under the waistband of his boxer shorts and closed her fist around his hard-on. Fitz groaned into her mouth and she started stroking firmly, making his hips twitch in reaction. 

"Jemma…" he whimpered as he broke the kiss. She was making incredible little noises as she touched him and it was doing as much to him as the actual touching. So he hooked his fingers into the side of her knickers, pulling impatiently to urge her to lift her hips. He stepped back just long enough to slide them down her legs as she pushed his trousers and boxers down, finally freeing his cock. He slipped his hands up her thighs then, and around to grab her bum, pulling her to him roughly. She keened as she hooked her legs around his hips and her whole body seemed to tremble in anticipation. He captured her lips again as he started rutting against her. 

"Fitz," she mumbled against his lips as her hands roved over his back and down to his bum, making his hips twitch in response. "Fitz… condom?" she insisted before he pressed his lips to hers once more, kissing her hard as he got lost in the feeling of his cock pressing against her hot center. 

Still, the information finally registered in his brain and he blindly reached for his wallet in his trousers' back pocket, silently praying that the condom he put there ages ago was still good. He cheered internally when he saw that the expiry date was still almost a year away but Jemma took it from his hands before he could open it. She tore it open then reached for his cock as she looked at him, her eyes dark and full of mischief. She stroked him firmly several times, making him whimper in pleasure, before finally unrolling the condom on him. 

Her chest was heaving when she pulled him back between her legs and Fitz couldn't resist the attraction. His hands closed on her breasts, his thumbs stroking her nipples through the fabric as he kneaded the flesh of her two perfect round tits. Her back arched as she moaned and Fitz groaned as he pulled the fabric of her dress down along with her lacy cup to free one breast and attach his lips to her nipple. 

"Fuck," she let out in a breathless whisper as he nipped and sucked hungrily, while wondering when exactly he'd completely lost control of the situation. The muscles of her legs tensed around his hips and his cock pushed between her folds. "Fitz, please…" she insisted, the sound of her breathy voice going directly to his groin. 

"Wait… what about Fred?" Fitz let out in one last moment of clarity.

"What?" 

"Fred," Fitz repeated as he straightened up slightly, nodding his head in the vague direction of the security office and Jemma fortunately seemed to understand. 

"Very sweet man but I still want you more," she said, grinning as she grabbed the lapel of his shirt to pull him closer. 

"Jemma," he whined and she rolled her eyes.

"He was snoring peacefully when I walked by his office ten minutes ago," she said before reaching up and nipping at his lower lip. "But just in case, you should hurry up and fuck me now before he wakes up and starts making his rounds," she whispered against his lips and his hips twitched as he groaned. 

"Jemma," he whined once more, her name having apparently become the only thing he could get out of his mouth and she giggled throatily as she reached for his cock to place it at her entrance. 

"I'm sorry, I meant, you should make sweet love to me on the edge of this—Oh!" she cut herself off as he finally pushed into her.

He groaned as he pushed until he was in to the hilt and she palmed his cheek to kiss him roughly before letting her face fall against his shoulder. He moved his hands up her thighs to keep her steady and started moving his hips, slowly for a moment as their bodies adjusted to the wonderful slide of his cock into her slick channel, then faster and faster until he reached a rhythm of deep, fast thrusts that had her whimpering with each pass. 

"Fitz," she moaned before biting into the skin of his neck. "Fitz, Fitz, Fitz," she repeated as she laved his skin with open mouth kisses. She was holding on tightly to his shoulders and Fitz could feel the muscles of her legs tense with every deep thrust. She bit into his skin once more and his hips stuttered in reaction.

"Yes, harder," she moaned, the pleading tone of her voice going straight to his cock. So he did as she asked and, putting a hand on the side of the desk for leverage, started rocking against her harder. The friction felt fantastic, her breasts rubbing against his chest felt amazing and, god, everything felt fantastic. She was the smartest, most beautiful, perfect woman he'd ever met and she was currently moaning and trembling from the pleasure he was giving her. He would have thought it was all a dream if the feel of her skin under his hands and her intoxicating scent didn't feel so real. She was clenching her walls around his cock and tightening her legs around his hips in the sexiest death grip he'd ever felt and he hoped she was close because— 

She came with a sharp gasp, mewling with every hard thrust of his cock that followed. She fell backwards, resting her hands on the desk as she breathed heavily, and Fitz took the opportunity to reattach his lips to her tit. She whimpered and arched her back and he pulled on her dress and bra to free the other. He licked and sucked on her hard nipples as he kept working his cock into her and she came again, letting out his name in a soft sigh as her walls fluttered around him. The sensation made him see stars and he lost all notion of control or subtlety as he started pumping into her frantically, his face resting between her breasts until he came with a groan, letting out the breath he'd been holding. He kept moving into her for a long moment, their whimpers and groans of pleasure mixing as the friction they created still sent shivers down his spine. 

When it was over, he pulled her up, kissed her softly on the lips and wound his arms around her in a tight embrace, breathing deeply as the wonderful scent of her hair filled him with a feeling of happiness he hadn't felt in a long time. She let out a muffled giggle after a moment and he pulled back slightly to look at her. 

"What is it?" he asked, surprised by the fond look in her eyes.

"Nothing, it's just so… sweet that you're so affectionate," she replied, palming his cheek and rubbing his jaw with the pad of her thumb. He closed his eyes as he leaned into the touch for a moment.

"Isn't it normal to be like this after sex?" 

"I guess it depends on the situation," she replied. "But I love it that you are now," she quickly added before pecking his lips and disentangling her legs from him. 

Fitz moved away from her and went in search of a tissue to wrap the condom in and dispose of it later. Somehow, It felt wrong, and unhygienic, to throw it away in his office's paper bin. Although he technically didn't do anything wrong, he knew the guilt of what he'd just done would show up soon enough but for now, he was too high on endorphins and sex and well, Jemma. And she thought hugging her was him being affectionate. If he had a bed right now, he'd be busy covering her whole body in kisses and possibly a few love bites. Actually…

"Hu Jemma? Do you hum-do you want to go back to mine? Order a pizza and maybe—"

"Sleep with you?" she finished for him with a wide smile. "Fitz! But we haven't even been on a date yet, don't you think it's a little too soon?" 

He tried to glare at her but it mustn't have been very convincing because she just smiled wider and came to stand before him as she proceeded to do up the buttons of his shirt. The top of her dress had been rearranged properly, her boobs hidden and the hemline pulled back to just over her knees. Except for her swollen lips and slightly mussed hair, she looked like her usual proper self, but Fitz knew better now and he couldn't help smiling. 

"Of course I'll come home with you," she said, doing up his last buttons. She tilted her head to the side and, having apparently changed her mind, undid the last one before smoothing his collar and looking at him with a pleased smile. "That was really nice, and probably the naughtiest thing I've ever done," she said with a very proud smile, "but I'm not done with you!"

He raised his eyebrows and she just smiled wider. God, he really hoped she wasn’t.


	5. Chapter 5

Fitz was woken up by some noise coming from the living room and truly hoped it wasn't a burglar because, after the night he had, there was no way he'd have the strength to get up and do something about it. He reached across the bed and found the other side empty but still warm, and smiled. A gorgeous little English burglar, that he could deal with. She had barely left his side for three days after their first time but had to go home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Even though he had a really nice time at Hunter and Bobbi's, he'd missed her a ridiculous amount. Which was why, when she'd knocked on his door after dropping her parents at the airport the previous day, wearing a big Christmas hat, he felt like they had to celebrate being reunited after two long days. 

"Look what I found," she said, her voice sounding much closer than he'd expected it. She was quiet when she wanted to, she _would_ make a decent burglar.

Fitz made what felt like an inhuman effort and turned around until he was on his back, then straightened up a bit to look towards the door. His lips turned up into a wider smile. She'd put on his vest and elbow patches jacket, and nothing else except for her knickers.

"Do you know how many times I fantasized about this?" she asked with a mischievous smile.

"Really? That?" 

She nodded and made a show of swinging her hips as she walked towards the bed. 

"And I'm not the only one either," she said, climbing on her knees at the end of the bed. "The things I heard some of your undergrad students want to do to you… Makes what we did in your office sound almost innocent…"

"Jemma!" he admonished. "I don't need to hear that!" 

She giggled and moved on her hands and knees until she hovered over him. Maybe he wasn't so exhausted after all. He reached for her face and pulled her into a kiss. He keened in surprised when she immediately plunged her tongue into his mouth, kissing him just as hungrily as she did the previous night. She tasted like mint and smelled delicious and Fitz felt a little guilty as he broke the kiss. 

"I'm sorry, you're all minty fresh and I must have a horrible morning breath."

She shook her head and giggled as she kissed him again, more softly this time, before sitting back, straddling his hips through the covers. 

"Don't care, you're too cute in the morning not to kiss you."

Fitz smiled shyly and looked away. Jemma wasn't shy when it came to telling him everything she liked about him and she surely showed her interest and attraction without much restraint. He probably had sex with Jemma more times in the past week than he had in total the past few years. He hadn't had many relationships before and it had never been like that. He'd never felt such overwhelming affection and consuming attraction at the same time for anyone else before and certainly never felt like someone felt the same way for him. And it was just as exhilarating as it was confusing and scary. 

"So hum… those really?" he asked, trailing his fingers over her jacket covered arms and she grinned. 

"Oh yes!"

"But… Bobbi got me this as a joke because I said I wanted to look older. Don't know why she thought it was so funny cause I think it works..."

She shook her head in amusement. 

"Oh Fitz…"

He frowned in confusion.

"Well, Bobbi looks like she's a very smart woman, isn't she?"

"Of course she is, why?"

"Well, in this case, I'm pretty sure she got you the jacket to help you get laid."

"What?" 

"Which was a success obviously," Jemma said, looking down to where she was straddling his hips while biting her lip mischievously, making certain parts of him wake up as well.

But now he was a little horny and still as confused and she rolled her eyes.

"The jacket doesn't really make you look older. It makes you look extra Scottish and exotic. And the vest mmh..." she trailed off.

"What about it?" 

"If I was your boss, I'd tell you to take it off at the risk of distracting the students." 

"What?" he repeated and she burst out laughing. 

"You really don't know anything about clothes, do you?" 

"Before Bobbi decided to take me shopping once a year, I owned one suit I wore to every formal event for years and the rest of my closet was one third jeans, one third plaid shirts and one third white t-shirts." 

She laughed again and the sound was so pretty that Fitz just couldn't resist, sitting up to wind his arms around her and peck her lips. 

"I bet those look really good too though. I'm a simple woman, I can enjoy a nice pair of jeans as well."

"I'll enjoy any clothes as long as it's you in them."

"Awww," she said, her lips turning up into a fond smile. "And who taught you to be so sweet?"

"Ah, that's all me. Acquired this skill all on my own."

She grinned. 

His hand descended down her back until he could slip it back up under his jacket, grazing the bare skin between her knickers and his vest, making her gasp slightly. He didn't think he'd ever get used to having such an effect on her. He moved around and up over her stomach, her ribs and between her breasts barely covered by his vest. She bit her lip. 

"I especially enjoy seeing you in my clothes though."

"Oh, yeah?"

He captured her lips once more and threaded his fingers through her hair, holding her head gently. She moaned into the kiss as she held onto his arms lightly. The sound went straight to his groin and his hand drifted to her breast almost of its own volition. He slid under the fabric easily, enjoying the way her nipple pebbled instantly. She rolled her hips and it made him harden even through the thick blanket. She laughed into the kiss and pushed him down so she could roll on her side and wiggle her way under the covers. 

"Hey, what's this?" she said, wiggling some more until she could fish his glasses out of his jacket pocket.

"Fitz!" she admonished. "You shouldn't leave those in your pocket like that, they’re fragile."

"Well, I hadn't exactly planned for you to wear my jacket and that you'd end up wearing it while lying down in my— No!" he cut himself off, but it was too late.

With the glasses on, she frowned for a second before her lips turned up in an amused smile. 

"You know, whoever sold you those glasses, I think you got ripped off."

He tried to glare at her but it was hard because she looked unfairly sexy with his clothes and now his glasses. 

"Fine, you discovered my secret, I don't need glasses, now give them back."

"Did you think they were going to make you look older? You know, maybe you should have a cane or a limp, maybe dye your hair grey or grow a full beard or have those trousers that go all the way up over your stomach and suspenders too… wait no, suspenders can be sexy depending—" 

"Are you done?" he cut her off. 

"No, I have a lot more ideas actually. Do you want me to write you a list?" she replied, grinning. 

"That's it, give me my stuff back. You're not allowed to have them if you use them to make fun of me!"

She shook her head, her smile turning more and more mischievous. 

"Nope, I like them, I'm keeping them."

"Jemma…"

"Take them back yourself… if you can." 

Oh! So _that_ was what she wanted. God, he could be so slow sometimes. They were literally snogging only a minute ago.

He smiled and shot up to turn them around until she was on her back and he was hovering over her. She smiled at him like the cat who caught the canary. She really was incredibly sexy with her hair spread out over the pillow and her nipples peeking through the fabric of his vest. He leaned down to kiss her softly. 

"Actually," he whispered against her lips. "You can keep it all!" And then he moved back and away from her, grinning at the pathetic little whimper she let out when their bodies separated. 

"Fitz? What do you—"

She cut herself off when he went directly for her knickers, pulling them down and off her legs quickly. He spread her legs apart and lifted them up over his shoulders as he went down, pressing a line of kisses up her thigh. Looking up, he could see her chest heaving more and more as he got closer to her center. He gave her folds a long slow lick and her hips stuttered as she let out his name in that breathy tone he already loved so much. She was so wet too and her musky scent was intoxicating so he dove in hungrily, pushing his tongue into her channel before going up to her clit, circling his tongue around before sucking on it. She mewled, her voice deep and low, and when he looked to the side, he saw her hands fisting the sheets underneath. Fuck, that was erotic! He pushed his pelvis into the mattress to release some of the tension in his boxers and brought his attention back to her, alternating between sucking and licking her clit and diving back to her entrance.

"Fitz," she whined after a moment as her legs tightened around his shoulders. "More!"

Her hips were pushing off the mattress more and more and he knew she was close. He focused back on her clit, flicking it quickly with his tongue while he rested his weight on one side. With the other, he pushed two fingers inside her. She moaned out loud and after only a few seconds, her walls clenched around his fingers. She came with a loud gasp, her thighs tensing around his shoulders as her back arched. He kept working his fingers inside her more gently until she seemed to relax. He kissed the inside of her thigh one more time before pulling back and coming to lie down next to her. 

She was so beautiful right after an orgasm, her lips pulled up into a slight smile and her eyes closed as her chest still moved up and down rapidly, that Fitz couldn't resist stretching his neck to press a kiss to her forehead. She opened her eyes and her smile widened.

"Your turn!" 

"Oh I'm alright, just enjoy your—"

"Who says I'm not going to enjoy this?" she cut him off as she blindly reached for the drawer in his bedside table. She somehow still managed to grab a condom from the box that had been emptying much quicker than usual this past week.

She lazily rolled on top of him before straightening up and straddling his thighs. She pulled his boxers down until she could free his cock and smiled wickedly when he let out a sigh of relief. She quickly had the wrapper opened and the condom unrolled on his length. She wiggled the jacket off her shoulders before pulling it down completely and his cock twitched in interest under her teasingly slow moving hand. 

"Not going to last very long," he said between two whimpers of pleasure. 

"Not expecting you to," she replied as she started stroking him faster. 

Fitz groaned. It felt amazing but what was the point of putting a condom on him if she was just going to wank him off. But then, she finally took her hand off him and lifting her hips until she was over him, she placed his cock at her entrance and easily slid down with an incredibly indecent moan. She gave just one slow tentative roll of her hips and then she was riding him hard and fast. Fitz had thought that those months spent wanting each other without being able to do anything about it had been a torture but turned out it had been a very long foreplay. 

Fitz's head was swimming in pleasure, the way their skin slapped against each other as they came together, her tits bouncing under his vest and threatening to spill over with every movement, he was definitely not going to last long. She took his hands from her hips and made them slip under her vest. They closed around her breasts almost of their volition, squeezing and massaging and she moaned as she gave him a wicked grin. She came down on him hard and he felt his sac grow tight. He came with a shout of her name. She kept moving over him, breathing harshly until she let out a squeaking noise as her body tensed and finally relaxed completely. 

She moved off of him and waited until he'd disposed of the condom to snuggle against his side. 

"Do you think we'll ever get out of bed?" he asked lazily and she chuckled.

"Sure… your couch looks nice and comfy, we could—"

"I meant something that would require both of us to wear more clothes."

"Well, we could still go back to your office. It feels like a lot of unnecessary effort when we could mmmpph" 

He cut her off with his hand on her mouth this time and she giggled as she pushed his hand mock-indignantly. 

"I mean doing something other than sex."

"Fine," she said, pouting exaggeratedly. "What do you propose?" 

"We could go out for…" he trailed off as he reached for his phone to see the time. Eleven thirty. "… brunch? I'm famished, I could definitely eat something."

"But you just—"

"Jemma!" he cut her off and she started giggling even harder. 

He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "I can't decide if you have the mind of a twelve-year-old or if it's just plain dirty." 

"Probably a little bit of both. But brunch sounds nice." 

"Good then, I'll go make some tea and look up a nice place for brunch and you can have the shower first," Fitz said as he reluctantly sat up then swung his legs out of bed. 

"But I'm so dirty, I might need someone to help me in the shower," she said, her voice exaggeratedly raspy, and he raised his eyebrows up to his hairline as he turned back to her. "Kidding!" she added before grinning and turning around to walk towards the bathroom. Fitz had to bite his lip to ignore the lovely possibilities his brain was presenting him with but he remained strong and only his eyes followed her to the bathroom.

-0-0-0-

He'd just put the kettle to boil and turned his laptop on when there was a knock on the door. He considered staying still and not answering but there was a second knock and Bobbi's voice insisting she knew he was here. She'd probably already seen his car in front of the building anyway. She had really missed her calling as a spy, that one. 

Deciding that there was nothing to be done for his bed head he lazily shuffled towards the door and opened it to a too smiling Bobbi. 

"Good morning sunshine!" she announced brightly as she walked past him and sat on the couch.

"Mornin' Bobbi. D'you want tea?"

"Nope, I'm good!"

She was looking at him all smiles and soft looks but somehow it made him want to squirm like he'd done something wrong. 

"So hum, did you want something?"

"Oh you know, just knowing how you were doing. Hunter has been whining around the place like a lonely puppy all day yesterday. And I missed you too, you know."

Oh. 

For the past few years, since he usually couldn't go home, Fitz had always spent the day after Christmas at Bobbi and Hunter's. It wasn't anything official or that was ever planned but they somehow always ended up playing video games or watching TV all day while eating leftovers. Despite being on and off for years, his friends had always been back together for Christmas and Fitz rather enjoyed listening to Hunter's exaggerated retelling of Christmas day spent at Bobbi's parents. But when Jemma had come unannounced after dropping her parents at the airport earlier than planned, he had kind of forgotten everything else, including the day he usually spent at his friend's house. He felt a little guilty about it but not as much as he thought he would. After all, he'd also spent more than one New Year's Eve listening to them rant about each other instead of celebrating. But since he hadn't talked to Jemma much about how they were going to handle their relationship, he didn't feel like telling Bobbi the truth.

"Ah yeah... Sorry, hum... I started working on my drones and I-I lost track of time," he replied, grateful for the hissing kettle that gave him an excuse to walk away from Bobbi's inquisitive gaze.

"Oh right, of course. Your drones. I should have known. Well, I should let you get back to work then..."

"Ah yeah, I should probably get back to--"

"But what is Jemma doing while you're working on your drones though?"

"Whaaat?" he replied, his voice squeaky, and he cleared his throat before speaking again. "Why are you asking? I think she's with her family, her parents are visiting and hum... not that it's any of my business, she just happened to tell me and you know I have a good memory and--"

"Fitz, stop," Bobbi cut him off as she stood up and came to stand right before him. She was impressive on any normal day but when he was barefoot, unshowered and wearing his PJs, she was downright scary. She gave him a big cheshire cat grin like she could read his mind. "I know."

"What do you mean you know? There's nothing to hum--" He leaned against the kitchen counter as casually as he could. "There's nothing to know, we're just friends."

"Fitz. I heard she changed advisor even though you were obviously working really well together and you have the rest of the holidays to work on your drones, nothing would have kept you from Christmas leftovers except, maybe, the promise of hours of sex with the girl of your dreams." 

"Wait that doesn't--"

"And also, that bra," she said pointing towards the TV where Jemma's very festive red bra was hanging. Shit. "Looks like it'd fit her much better than you. No offense." 

Fitz guessed he was about the same color as the bra when he looked back up at his friend once he found the courage to get his hands off his face. Mostly for being caught lying so badly though. The passionate sex, he thought Bobbi would probably be very proud of him for.

"So are you going to tell me if that's her, which I really hope it is, in the shower right now or do I have to wait until whoever that is gets out?"

"Alright fine, of course that's her!" Fitz let out, sighing before flopping on the couch, a big mug of tea in one hand and a pillow in the other. It was too early to be interrogated like that. 

Bobbi came to sit next to him and bumped his shoulder. 

"Well, stop pouting then, that sounds like happy news to me," she said and Fitz couldn't help smiling. It wasn't like him to be like that but the simple thought of her, and especially her in his arms, did that to him.

"And now make up for lying to me and tell me what happened. Did she laugh at one of your stupid science puns and you just couldn't resist?"

"Bobbi."

"So you grabbed her and kissed her passionately against the wall. And then--"

"Bob--"

"She asked you to take her right there and then and you bent over the desk and--"

"Bloody hell, Bobbi!" he cried out and she stopped, grinning like a mad woman.

"Serves you right for lying to me," she said, apparently quite enjoying how very red in the face he must be. Mostly because he didn't really need to think of more things to do to Jemma in very inappropriate places. 

He remained quiet for a moment.

"Is everything alright with Hunter, you know... in the bedroom, or is there something you want to talk about?" he asked, teasing, hoping to change the subject, even though he really should have known better.

"Perfectly fine. It's very healthy to have fantasies, you know. Although I'm fine with my man only pretending to be a student. I mean, not that I didn't see it coming but still, you--" 

"No Bobbi, it's not like that. It's not just a fantasy or something, I mean we're obviously having..." He closed his eyes for a moment as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I really like her Bobbi but I wouldn't have dreamt of-of making a move as long as she was still my student."

"I know, Fitz. I know," she said, gently squeezing his shoulder. "I've seen your literal heart-eyes whenever she was in the room."

"You can't have literal heart-eyes, that doesn't make any sense..."

"Ugh! I know Fitz! So what happened then?"

"She came to see me just before the Holidays and told me that she'd changed advisors because she liked me and thought it could work between us."

"Awwww!" Bobbi let out, her lips pulling into a big smile. "I like that. Girl knows how to get what she wants. And what happened after that?"

"What do you think happened? I kissed her of course."

"And..."

"And that's all I'm telling you."

She pouted and Fitz rolled his eyes as he shook his head.

"Come on, did you do it on your desk? Did you buy her dinner first? I need to know if I won my bet with Hunter."

"Oh god!" 

"I'm your best friend, you can tell me." 

"I'm really starting to doubt that, Bob." 

"Ugh fine!" she let out bumping his shoulder once more before grabbing his tea mug from his hand, taking a sip and grimacing at the taste like she always did.

"Well, here's another piece of good news for you before I leave you to..."

"Brunch. We were about to go get brunch."

"If you say so. Anyway, I went shopping with Linda the other day. The dean's assistant. And she told me you had the best results of all the advisors, even now that Jemma's no longer your student, and your first year's class is the most popular in the department and you're apparently well on your way to being tenured."

Fitz's eyes widened. He'd been told several times that despite his excellent results, he was still a little too young to be tenured. So he'd accepted that, whatever his results were, it would still take at least a few years.

"What? Really?" 

"Yeah," Bobbi grinned. "You're attracting new students in your department. I mean, it's not official or anything but Linda was positive that if you keep up the good work and keep a low profile, by the end of the year you'll be tenured."

"Wow, that’s- Wait. What do you mean low profile? Like-like not dating my student for instance, right?" 

And there it was. The guilt he thought he should have been feeling these past days but that had been buried deep down by happiness and quite a fair amount of lust, was finally showing its head. Of course, when everything in his life seemed perfect, something had to go wrong, this happiness couldn't last too long without--

"Hey, hey, hey," Bobbi said, stopping the whirlwind of his thoughts. "I can see your cogs turning. Don't go all dramatic. You're not doing anything wrong or against the rules with Jemma. But people talk so, given the circumstances, you might want to keep it private, at least until the end of the school year."

"But I-I'm terrible at keeping secrets."

"Well, you're going to get better. She's worth it, isn't she?" 

"Yeah... yes, of course, she is." 

Bobbi was right of course. It wasn't like he was planning to snog Jemma in the middle of the cafeteria or walk to the dean first thing after the holidays and tell him about their relationship, but it still put quite a lot more pressure on him than he had anticipated. 

"Alright then, I'll leave you to get brunch or whatever. But don't make any rash or stupid decision before talking to me or Hunter first, ok?" 

"Ok, thanks Bobbi," he said, reaching for a quick hug. "Tell Hunter I'll make it up to him for missing video games day."

She laughed before looking down at him with a huge grin.

"Oh no. I filled in for you so you have to make it up to me now."

"Oh. Oh no, not--"

"Oh yes, you'll be my own personal Ken doll next week-end, now that you're in a relationship, you have to up your game my friend."

"Am I not supposed to be the one to do that now?" 

Fitz turned around in synchrony with Bobbi to find Jemma standing by the living room entrance wearing one of his t-shirt and a pair of his boxers. She and Bobbi exchanged one of those knowing looks and grins that made Fitz feel very nervous. 

"Doctor Simmons," Bobbi said and Jemma smiled a little wider as she came to stand next to Fitz, wrapping her arm around his waist. 

"But I think I'll leave that job to you. You really did an excellent job."

"Told you!" Bobbi said to Fitz before turning back to Jemma. "So you liked the suit, didn't you?" 

"I especially liked taking it off him."

"Jemma!"

They burst out laughing, apparently both equally enjoying his discomfort. Jemma pressed a kiss to his cheek to make it better but only to start talking again. 

"And I was sitting on the desk. I mean, look at him, I want to see that pretty face while he--"

"Jemma, please!"

She laughed before tightening her arm around his waist. 

"Sorry but you still owed me for the other night. I think we're even now." 

"Ok, well I'll leave you now, I think I have everything I needed," Bobbi said, having watched this whole exchange with a very satisfied smile and Fitz rolled his eyes. 

They said their goodbyes, Fitz still promising to come by before the end of the holidays and Jemma to call Bobbi and meet for coffee, which he didn't know how he felt about. Of course, he wanted his best friend to like his girlfriend but with those two, he was a little bit terrified about what they'd tell each other. 

"So, what did Bobbi want? Except details on our very young but exciting sex life." 

Fitz chuckled nervously. 

"Ah well, it's good news but hum... we need to talk."


	6. Chapter 6

Fitz didn't even know it was possible to go from being so completely happy to so utterly miserable in so little time. The two weeks the Christmas holidays lasted had been like a dream. He hadn't done half the work he had planned on his personal projects and he didn't even care at all. Once past the sexual frenzy, although it had been a big part of their days the whole time, Fitz had discovered that all he had loved about Jemma the student, he loved twice as much about his girlfriend. She was incandescently smart and witty, and despite being only twenty three days younger, she sometimes made him feel like an old man. In the best possible way. She was much bolder than he was and always willing to try new things whether it was a new field of research, a strange flavor of cake or... well, other things. And she had this positive outlook on life that made her feel amused and thrilled at the prospect of a secret relationship, instead of terrified.

Turned out it was neither of these things and mostly incredibly frustrating. They had decided it was their best option if he didn't want to put the possibility of being tenured at risk. And even _she_ admitted that, even though they weren't breaking any rules, people might talk if they got together the second she was no longer his student.

But that meant they had to keep their contact at the university to a minimum and keep it strictly professional whenever they crossed paths. They only saw each other outside if it was far from Stanford or at his place since there were too many students living in her building. It had been fine like that at first but work had quickly started to pile up on Fitz's desk and Jemma was working hard to graduate early. And now, it had been almost three weeks since they'd spent a day or night together. Except for the quick lunch just outside campus where they had been too afraid to do more than hold hands under the table, there had only been texts and the rare video call.

Despite seeing her from afar almost every day on campus, he missed her more than he ever thought possible. And he even felt jealous of professor Jetson for having her all to himself for several hours every week. Although Fitz really hoped his colleague didn't feel the same way he used to when Jemma was _his_ student.

Lost as he was wallowing in self pity, Fitz didn't even notice how close Jemma was until he heard her beautiful watery laugh from across the corridor. 

She was holding her books close to her chest as James, one of Fitz's students, leaned against the wall having apparently said something interesting enough to warrant a laugh from her. Fitz felt jealousy rage in his belly and he hated it. He couldn't expect her to stop interacting with the rest of humanity just because she couldn't be with him more often. But he still felt that way and, without even making the conscious decision to do it, Fitz had taken a few more steps in their direction until he was close enough to hear their conversation. 

"Come on Jemma, you can take a break for just one night. You'll love that bar, they have good beer and it's nice and chill," James said, leaning more towards Jemma than the wall now.

Fitz should probably punch James in the face for using the expression "nice and chill" but on top of that, he knew exactly what his student meant by that. Dark, intimate and perfect for a first date.

"Ah that's… nice of you to ask but I have plans tonight." 

"Would these plans involve more books and your computer?" James asked and Jemma chuckled. Well, Fitz supposed he wasn't wrong. Jemma was supposed to be working while Fitz graded papers but they had a "phone date" later in the evening. 

"Not exactly, no."

"Oh come on, you don't have any plans," James teased and Fitz had to resist the urge to send the boiling hot coffee he was holding at his stupid square face.

"I do, I mean it's nothing as exciting as…" Jemma trailed off, her eyes widening as she finally looked up and her gaze landed on Fitz.

If there wasn't so much noise in the hallway, Fitz was pretty sure he could have heard his heart breaking into a million pieces. And he couldn't even blame her. She deserved so much more than that. She deserved a relationship she didn't have to hide from everyone and a boyfriend she could spend more than a night with every three weeks, who would take her out to nice places and, bloody hell, a boyfriend who wouldn't wait until it was too late and she grew bored of him to tell her what he really felt for her.

So Fitz shook his head and gave her a sad smile as he walked past her to run to his office before he started crying in the middle of the hallway. 

He barely had a minute to put his emotions under control before there was a quick knock on the door. Knowing perfectly who that was, he took a big gulp of his coffee to give himself courage and ended up burning his tongue. He was letting out an impressive string of very Scottish curses when Jemma opened the door but she didn't even seem to notice. She walked in and locked the door before he could say or do anything.

"Fitz, I don't know what you heard but I swear I'm not at all interested in—"

"It's alright Jemma, I understand. Secret relationships are not all that exciting after all, yeah?" he said, chuckling as he tried to make light of the situation when it felt like he was dying inside.

"What? No, that's not what I—"

"You should go if you want to. You're amazing Jemma, you deserve a boyfriend who has the time to tell you that, and prove it to you everyday."

"I don't care about what I deserve," she cried out before wincing at how loud she was and moving closer. "I just want you," she whispered almost against his lips. 

"But you said—"

"Yeah, a phone date is not an exciting prospect when I haven't seen you for so long and all I want is to pretend to watch a movie for fifteen minutes then have so much sex we'll pass out

from exhaustion in each other's arms. But that doesn't mean I want to go out with the first guy who has a free evening to offer."

"But you'll get tired of it all eventually, it's not like I'm anything special and—"

“Fitz!" she hissed, taking his arm and pulling him to the side, away from the door. "Stop that! You are special to me. I knew what I was getting into and I still chose this." Her voice softened at the last words and anger was replaced with a tenderness that was a balm to his heart as she cupped his cheek. 

"It’s not like I can replace you like that. I'm not with you because it's convenient, I'm with you because I love you, you idiot.” 

Fitz couldn't help laughing as a single tear finally rolled down his cheek. He probably looked crazy and <i>he was</i> an idiot, but he was her idiot. Relief and happiness flooded through his whole body as he leaned into her touch.

“I love you too," he replied, voice shaky with emotion. " I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I wanted to tell you so many times but—"

She crashed her lips to his, kissing him hard as she pushed him against the bookshelves. A volume he should have stored better dug into his back and his tongue still hurt but he couldn't have cared less. Jemma loved him and they were going to be alright. That single kiss was slowly but surely erasing weeks of doubts and frustration.

"Stop apologizing," she said, breathing heavily, when she pulled back. "You just said you love me, let's focus on that, okay?"

"And you said it first," he replied, his lips pulling into a dopey grin despite himself. 

"Yeah, it's almost like I'm the smartest one of the two of us." 

"Hey, more PhDs doesn't necessarily mean you're—"

"Do you want me to ask Bobbi's opinion?" Jemma cut him off.

"What? No, that won't be—"

"She'd be really interested in knowing who you wanted me to date. She would kick your pretty arse."

Fitz frowned and Jemma rolled her eyes all the way to the back of her head.

"James? Honestly?! I can't believe you wanted me to go out with James of all people!"

"What? He's reasonably smart, attractive, I kind of want to punch him in the face now but other than that, I guess he's okay…"

"Well, you date him then," Jemma said, huffing in annoyance. "Do you know anyone who's more annoying? Have you seen the way he eats? He's disgusting and always steals fries from other people's plates and—"

Fitz crashed his lips to hers this time, winding his arms around her as he turned them around, pressing her against the bookshelves. 

"I love you very, very much Jemma," he said when he pulled back and she raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"You really do, do you?"

He nodded as he pecked her nose.

"I would give up all my fries for you." 

She burst out laughing, letting her head fall on his shoulder to muffle the sound. 

"How terribly romantic of you." 

"You haven't even seen the half of it," he replied, pressing one last light kiss to her lips before taking a step back but Jemma wound her arms around his waist before he could go further.

"Where are you going?" she asked. 

"Hu… my desk. Getting some work done?" he replied tentatively and she shook her head as her hands descended from his waist to his bum. Fitz whimpered as she pulled him against her, his erection pressing against her pelvis.

"Absolutely not," she whispered against his lips. "Finally got you all to myself, I'm not letting you go until I finally feel completely… satisfied." 

"You mean…"

"It's been three weeks, Fitz. It's driving me crazy and I can only come so many times from the sound of your voice alone." 

"Jemma!" he whispered, looking around in panic, like someone could have walked in without him noticing. "We were lucky enough we didn't get caught the last time but it's the middle of the day-ayyyyy" 

Whatever he had in mind was quickly forgotten as Jemma moved one hand to grab him through his trousers while the other went to work on his belt and zip. He captured her lips again, moaning into the kiss as she snaked one hand down his boxer shorts.

Well, the door was locked and it wasn't like he was letting anyone else into his office anytime soon anyway. Not with the raging boner he was sporting at the moment.

He palmed her arse and pulled her against him once more as he thrust his hips forward. She moaned, her hips stuttering against his. The angle felt just right and for once in his life, he was glad he wasn't taller. So he did it again and again, not breaking the kiss to swallow her moans and little whimpers. 

"More!" she mumbled against his lips before thrusting her tongue between his lips once more, tangling with his desperately. Christ, all the wait was almost worth it for how needy she was acting. Her body was practically vibrating from desire under his hands and that was a sensation Fitz never wanted to forget. She tried to undo her button and zip and even though it did wonders for her arse, Fitz wished she wore a skirt or something more practical than those tight jeans. Still, with his help and quite a lot of frustrated but delightful little noises, she managed to push them down enough that there were only her knickers and his boxers between them. She hooked one leg behind his calf and whimpered as she pulled him back against her. 

"Jemma, wait. Fuck! I don't-I don't... have a condom… Do you?"

"No."

Oh god, she was right. Three weeks was way too long without the real thing and now, he was probably going to die from frustration. He wasn't going to survive having to wait until they were at his place. If her coming home with him was even a possibility considering all the work she had to do.

"It's alright. Like that's fine. I'm so close anyway," she replied, voice muffled against his shoulder before tightening her leg around him even more.

He took hold of her thigh to lift her leg even higher and thrust against her hard. He groaned at the intense burst of pleasure it created, making his eyes flutter close for a moment. 

"Yes, don't stop!" 

So he kept moving, pushing her against the thankfully very sturdy and stable bookshelves. His face was buried in her hair, both to muffle the sound of his moans and because he hadn't realized until now how much he'd also missed her scent. Jemma was panting against his neck, her voice becoming increasingly high as she whimpered and moaned. All her muscles were tensing and he could tell how close she was. He slid one hand under her blouse and cupped her breast through the thin cotton of her bra, pinching her hardened nipple between thumb and forefinger. She arched into him as her fingers tensed where she had slid them under the fabric of his boxers to grab his bum. She was too far gone to really have any strength to squeeze the flesh but the feeling of her skin on his was pure pleasure. 

"I missed you so much," he whispered in her ear and she shivered. Her whole body seemed to come alive under his touch and it was the most wonderful thing in the world. He could have spent hours just running his fingers all over her to feel the goosebumps forming and the tensing and trembling of every one of her muscles.

"Fitz!" she let out, gasping, before burying her face deeper into the crook of his neck. She bit the sensitive skin there to muffle her whimpers and after just a few more stutters of his hips, she finally came. 

Fitz groaned in pleasure pain as he could almost feel the bruise forming on his skin, and plunged one hand down her knickers, pressing two fingers lightly against her clit before pushing them inside her. Her walls were still pulsing around his fingers as he started moving them the best he could in this position. She clung to his shoulders desperately and after less than a minute, she came again, letting out a surprised moan as her whole body tensed around him for a long moment before she finally relaxed. Jemma felt boneless in his arms as she let her head fall back, breathing heavily.

He'd missed that too. Seeing her less than prim and proper, with that blissful, sinful smile on her lips. Everyone seemed to think that she was this genius who was only obsessed with science and whose idea of a fun Saturday night was books and a documentary. And, it was part of who she was and why he loved her so much, but, in her own way, she was also much more adventurous than anyone he'd ever met or than he would ever be. And he liked that he was one of the few people who knew that. This was a secret he was glad to be in on. 

He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips and her eyes fluttered open as her smile grew wider. 

"I missed you too," she said, chasing his lips lazily for just a few more seconds. "Now your turn, Doctor Fitz."

Pushing him back, she moved away from the bookshelves and turned them around. She kissed him again, lightly running her tongue over his lower lip before moving back. She flashed him a mischievous grin and sank to her knees. 

"Jemma," he gasped, watching, fascinated, as she pulled his trousers and boxers down to free his cock. 

She closed her lips around the head and slid down, taking as much of him as she could. His legs felt like jelly and his cock twitched as she started bobbing her head. Given the circumstances anyway, he supposed it was a good thing he wasn't going to last long. 

She put her hands on his hips, holding him against the bookshelves when he started thrusting involuntarily and he felt her chuckle as he whimpered in a strange mix of frustration and pleasure. It was hard not to move when she was doing such incredible things with her tongue but he also really liked it when she took control. So he surrendered, leaning against the bookshelves as she directed him just the way she needed. She started going faster, humming around him and he had to hold onto the edge of the bookshelf and bite his lip not to moan too loud. 

"Jemma," he whispered and she moved her hands around to grab his bum as she let go of his cock. 

"Come for me," she said, flashing him a hungry smile and the sight of her wet kiss-swollen lips made his cock twitch. 

She slowly licked a long line from the base of his cock to the head before taking him all in once more. It only took a few more movements of her head before he had to put his own hand before his mouth as he came. Stars exploded behind his eyelids as she swallowed around him and he was glad for the bookshelves supporting him or his legs might have given under him. Three weeks without touching her were almost worth it for the intense pleasure and just as intense feeling of pure bliss that followed. 

Finally, Jemma stood up, laughing lightly as Fitz struggled to pull his pants and trousers up with shaky hands, and snuggled into his arms as soon as he was done.

Fitz sighed as he deeply inhaled the scent of her hair. Maybe this was what he had missed the most after all. Or no, maybe he'd just missed every single aspect and part of her equally.

“We need a new system between this and nothing at all," Jemma said, her voice still a little low and breathless.

“Yeah," he replied before pressing a kiss to the top of her head "Come home with me. I'll free my desk so you can study like you had planned but at least we'll be in the same room."

"And sleep in the same bed," she added.

"Yeah."

She looked up at him. 

"That's a good start."


	7. Chapter 7

That night, Fitz's dinner consisted of leftover pizza, plain salad and crisps but it was still the best one he'd ever had because he'd shared it with his girlfriend. His wonderful, smart, beautiful girlfriend he hadn't spent a night with in weeks and who loved him. And whom he loved back even more. (Despite her argument that it was pointless to try and decide who loved the other more as there was no objective scale on which to measure love). At some point, he would eventually stop smiling like an idiot, or else Bobbi might think he'd been replaced by an evil doppelganger, but it would certainly not happen tonight. 

"So, let's talk seriously," Jemma declared, the gravity of her sentence kind of downplayed by the fact that she was wearing one of Fitz's monkey pyjama bottoms and currently had her feet on his lap. He was lazily massaging them and the slight raspiness in Jemma's voice was wonderfully distracting.

"Okay?" Fitz replied with a tentative smile.

Jemma chuckled and reached for her bag on the ground, taking her huge agenda out of it.

"As the year progresses, we certainly won't have less work so we need to plan ahead to make time for each other even if we're basically just in the same room to study." 

"I like being in the same room as you to do anything," Fitz replied with a mischievous smile as he moved his thumbs towards a spot on her foot he knew to be especially sensitive. 

She teasingly poked his belly with her foot as she looked at him with a not very convincing stern expression.

"I'm being serious Fitz." 

"Me too!" he protested. "I'm happy doing the dishes when you're in the same room." 

Her expression turned softer as she tilted her head to the side.

"I really do love you, you know, and I feel the same way. Which is why I can have none of _that_ look from you when I'm trying to get some work done."

Jemma had said "I love you" more times than Fitz could count since they'd come home and he loved the sparkle in her eyes that seemed to match the fluttering of his heart every time she did. He thought part of her just really liked to say it, he knew he did, and another just wanted to reassure him after he'd come to, in retrospect, ridiculous conclusions about James. He didn't want her to feel like she had to reassure him about her feelings all the time, that wouldn't be fair to her, and she had so many things on her mind already, but he really, really liked to hear it too. So maybe, just for tonight, he'd let her reassure him.

"Is it my fault I'm so irresistible to you that you can't keep yourself from mauling me like a wild animal?"

This time, her glare was almost convincing. 

"Alright, alright, I promise I'll leave you in peace and won't bother you when you're working." 

"You can still bother me _a bit_…" she trailed off, looking at him with a coy smile and Fitz rolled his eyes in amusement.

"Right… how about we take a minute once every hour for a kiss and pep talk if necessary?"

"Sounds good to me," she replied. "I'm putting this on the agenda." 

"And I hum… I was thinking of getting a desk and nice comfy chair for you. There's more than enough room in the apartment for that and I thought it'd be more comfortable for you…" 

"Fitz," she cooed. "That'd be wonderful but I don't want to intrude on your space even more than I—" 

"You're not, Jemma, I want you to bring and leave anything that makes you feel more comfortable here." 

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

She took her feet off his lap and came to sit closer to him before pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

"Alright, then I guess it'd be practical if I could leave a few toiletries and some underwear." 

"And you can bring some comfy clothes if you don't want to—"

"Are you crazy?" she cut him off, nudging his arm playfully. "I'm never wearing anything other than these pyjamas and your cardigans are comfier than anything I've ever owned!" 

Fitz gave her a dopey grin as he kissed her cheek and his heart did another little flutter in his chest. It was just a few borrowed clothes but it felt bigger than that. He could remember Hunter ranting about Bobbi stealing all his clothes when they moved in together (the first time) but then whenever he was at their place and Bobbi got cold, Hunter would still bring her one of _his_ sweaters. It was one of those little things that had always made Fitz believe those two would end together after all.

Jemma remained silent for a moment, turning the pages of her agenda with a look of concentration. Fitz was happy to let her work for a moment. He dealt with his workload well enough but his way seemed more basic, one big red note for every deadline on his electronic agenda and a reminder one week and three days before said deadline. Jemma seemed to have a whole complicated system but given that she was the one her way to a third degree and he had just the one, as everyone seemed to like reminding him, he supposed her method probably made sense.

"So I was thinking we should be able to spend every weekend together, unless previously engaged, and find at least one day during the week that we can spend together not working. How does Wednesday sound to you in the next four weeks to start with?"

"Hu, let me check…" Fitz replied, biting his lip not to smile at how very professional and somehow adorable all of this sounded. He was also willing to bet she was using several colors on that agenda of hers. Maybe even glitter.

There was only one big red note on a Thursday in the next four weeks so that should be manageable but just to be sure, he moved said deadline to the previous day so it would all be finished on Tuesday night and hopefully free his Wednesday evening completely.

"Sounds good to me."

She smiled as she wrote things on her agenda.

"What have you got planned for those Wednesday evenings?" he asked, half-seriously.

"Nothing specific, spontaneity is also important in a relationship."

"So… you're planning for us to be spontaneous?" 

She squinted her eyes at him and he laughed. 

“Don't mock my organization skills. What do you think got me two PhDs in four years?”

"You wonderful brain?"

She smiled as she rolled her eyes.

"So what's next?" Fitz asked. He liked teasing her about her over-preparedness but he actually really loved hearing what she was planning for them. A future with her in it was exciting even if it just consisted of evenings spent together working. 

"I was thinking about a long weekend away during spring break."

"Are we ready for this?"

“We will be then," she declared proudly.

"Of course. And what about now?” he asked with a hopeful smile.

She smiled mischievously as she put the agenda away and crawled into his lap. She captured his lips in a gentle kiss as his arms found their natural place around her waist. Threading her hands into his hair, she gently pulled his head back after a moment.

“I actually really have to finish writing a chapter right now," she said and he pouted exaggeratedly although he knew that already and would, of course, let her work in peace as he just promised. She laughed as she pressed one last gentle kiss to his lips.

"But tomorrow is a boring day so I'd love to start with something fun," she whispered against his lips. "Suggestions?” 

“Morning cartoons?”

**Two months later**

“You know I had very specific plans for today," Jemma mumbled lazily as she twisted her neck to capture his lips, momentarily distracting him from his mission to find the sensitive spot on the back of her neck that usually made her moan and push back against him deliciously.

“I'm open to ideas," he replied, tightening his hold on her chest as he started moving his hips again. He didn't see the point of disturbing their perfectly wonderful Friday morning routine but he supposed he should keep an open mind. Jemma did have wonderful new ideas all the time.

“I mean going out," she said, her slight huff made rather unconvincing by the breathy quality of her voice. "Do things outside of our hotel room."

“Sure. Sounds exciting. It's been a while since we didn't—”

“Not like that," she cut him off and she whimpered as his hand moved up to cup her breast gently, plucking her nipple between thumb and forefinger. He knew exactly what she meant and he wasn't exactly playing fair but she'd been the one to wake him up by spooning against his chest, naked. And it was Friday morning for god's sake, it had become a pavlovian reflex for him at this point.

"And I'm sure Bobbi and Hunter will be waiting for us for breakfast," Jemma added and Fitz chuckled.

"No, they won't! What do you think they're doing right now?"

"But Bobbi said—"

"Her hormones are driving her crazy recently. She tends to overshare since she got pregnant. I'm pretty sure she does it to bother me though. Because I don't tell her enough about us."

"Oh, I don't think that's it. I'm telling her everything anyway."

"Jemma!" he cried out, his voice going a little squeaky as she pushed back against him a little harder. His hips started moving faster almost of their own volition as he reattached his lips to her neck and his fingers tightened around her breast. She sighed contentedly. Fitz was pretty sure it was a good thing Jemma was such good friends with his friends because it meant they could spend fun nights at home and even go together on romantic couples vacations. But sometimes, he wondered if maybe they were becoming too close of friends for his peace of mind. These two women were intimidating enough on their own, he wasn't sure he wanted them to team up against him and tease him endlessly. Especially since his traitor of a friend Hunter always sided with Bobbi these days.

"Don't worry, Fitz. Nothing to be ashamed of. People say routine is boring in sex but it has its perks really and I'd rather…" she trailed off as he stopped moving altogether and she whimpered.

Fitz let out a little laugh.

"You know, I think this is your lamest attempt to date, Jemma Simmons."

She whined as she pushed back with no reaction from him other than a few gentle kisses on the neck.

"You won't get angry sex from me, Jemma. You'll only ever get very," he said, punctuating his words with kisses. "very, very loving sex. I'd rather go three weeks without sex again to make it wild and desperate rather than pretending I could remain angry while I'm kissing you and making love to you."

"Ugh, Fitz. Do you always have to be so sweet?" she let out, huffing all while pulling on his arm for him to hold her tighter.

Fitz laughed as he started moving again, slowly but pushing a knee between her legs so that he could deepen the angle of his thrusts. Her breathing became heavier as her body started tensing. She was pushing her breast even more against his hand, encouraging the movement of his fingers as her skin covered in goosebumps everywhere he was kissing and mouthing. She'd started being very curious about this whole angry sex thing when Bobbi had mentioned how great it supposedly was with Hunter. But despite her many, pretty ridiculous, attempts, Fitz just couldn't remain angry with her long enough for them to have sex. And even if he ever did, having Jemma in his arms and kissing her usually turned him into a big gooey pile of love, tenderness and desire. Which was far from the rough, kissless sex (what kind of crazy person didn't want kisses?!!) she probably expected from angry sex. Fortunately, he liked to believe he knew how to make her happy and satisfied in many other nice ways. 

She was all tense and sweaty and trembling already so Fitz's hand slid down her stomach, lightly fluttering his fingers against her skin until she moaned as he found her swollen clit. He started rubbing small circles over it, going faster and faster as her little noises became more and more desperate. Finally, he felt her walls start to spasm and the next second, she was coming with a soft cry. He kept his hand over her pussy, holding her close to him as he started snapping his hips faster, desperate for his own release. It only took one more minute before he was joining her, lightly sinking his teeth in the fine skin of her exposed neck. She shivered and pushed back against him a few more times, enjoying one last wave pleasure before it receded completely and their bodies relaxed.

Fitz sighed contentedly as he slid his hand up again to cup her breast. She chuckled as she pushed her chest into him a little more. They often fell asleep like that, to Fitz's utter enjoyment, but he always had to let go at some point because he was apparently too much of a furnace even in the dead of winter. Oh well, as long as they were sleeping in the same bed, Fitz was happy, even if the only point of contact was their entwined fingers. They stayed like that for a moment, letting their heartbeats slow down a little, until Jemma moved off of him and turned around to press a kiss to his lips.

"Now, come on, you'll be grumpy if we miss breakfast and I really want to visit the village, they're supposed to have the cutest pottery shops!"

"Yay, pottery," Fitz let out, mock enthusiastically and she squinted her eyes at him as she stood up, looking all perky and delicious with her flushed skin and wild hair when all he wanted was to fall back asleep for another hour. But even though he liked to tease her, he was actually anticipating going to the village. Not because he had any interest in pottery but just because he'd be with his girlfriend outside of his apartment, holding her hand and not worried someone they knew might see them. He could even kiss her in public if he felt like it. They were doing pretty good on the whole secret relationship thing. It wasn't perfect but they managed to spend quite a lot of time together and Fitz liked it when they worked in the same room, their desks facing each other in his living room. But he still couldn't wait for her to graduate so that they could let the whole world know about their love. He flashed her a dopey grin and she rolled her eyes gently before grabbing his hand to pull him up.

"Come on, you can have the shower first or I just know you'll fall back asleep."

Fitz pouted as he wound his arm loosely around her waist.

"Or we could take it together, save some time and water."

"Oh no, no, no. It won't save us any time when you have _that_ smile on, you horny bunny!"

Ah well, she wasn't wrong. 

"Fine," he let out with a dramatic sigh. "Shower, breakfast and then pottery." 

"Lovely," she said before pushing him towards the bathroom with a little tap on his bottom. Fitz grinned. She knew him so well and it was all so domestic. And Fitz loved every second of it.

When he got out of the shower, feeling fully awake and ready for the big buffet breakfast advertised by the hotel, he heard a voice in the room. He frowned, wondering if Bobbi and Hunter had actually managed to be ready before them and come to pick them up but then he realized there was only Jemma's voice. She had that slightly higher tone of voice that meant she was most likely speaking on the phone about something work related. Could it be that idiot Jetson calling her during spring break even though she was way ahead of schedule?

Fitz quickly switched his towel for a pair of boxer shorts and got out of the bathroom. 

"No, that's very generous of you but like I told you ... Yes, exactly ... But of course, I will call you back as soon as... Yes, June most likely ... Yes, thank you. A good day to you too."

Jemma hung up the phone and let out a big sigh. 

"I should have left that thing at home," she said, rolling her eyes as she put her phone on the bed. Fitz raised his eyebrows questioningly although he now had a good idea of who that could have been.

"Global Tech. They keep insisting and offering more money and it's flattering but right now, I just want to—"

"Go pottery shopping?" Fitz teased, knowing just how hard she was focused on getting her degree by the end of school year. 

"Exactly," she replied, her lips turning up into a big smile as she came to hug him, burying her face in his neck. She took a deep breath and he felt her body relax into his embrace in that way that always made his heart flutter in his chest. "Thank you, Fitz. You make everything better," she whispered in his ear before pulling back to kiss him and reluctantly move back to go and take her shower.

The truth was that Fitz was far from being serene about this whole thing. Global Tech was a British company based in London who'd sent someone to Stanford especially to meet Jemma a month ago. They'd been so impressed by her that they'd offered her a job immediately and had kept insisting even though she told them several times she just wanted to get her degree before taking a decision. Especially since they weren't the only ones who knew how very valuable Jemma SImmons would be for their company. She'd had four other meetings and subsequent job offers for another one in London, one in Boston, one in New York and even one in Singapore. Every one of these jobs seemed more interesting than the last. Honestly, he had trouble understanding how her previous employer had been stupid enough to let her go. 

And Fitz was really trying his best to be happy for her as it had been exactly why she'd decided to get another degree. And he sincerely was. Jemma deserved the best, hell, she could probably be the big boss of those companies and do a better job than all of them. But that didn't stop him from worrying about what would become of their relationship if she took one of those jobs. He knew he couldn't ask her to stay and refuse all those wonderful job offers on his account. Whatever she decided had to come from her alone. As Bobbi had told him a hundred times already, he had to trust Jemma, trust the strength of their feelings, her love for him and how determined she was in all aspects of her life. 

So Fitz tried to forget the twisting in his stomach he got every time she received one of these calls and decided to enjoy the time they had together to its fullest.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to finish this, Promptober kept me kind of busy. Anyway here's the last chapter, hope you like how I chose to finish this story and thank you to everyone who left kudos and commented all along :)

It felt like this week had lasted a whole month and it wasn't even over yet. It looked like the rollercoaster of emotions had more ups and downs coming. The previous week, Jemma had graduated early, not that it was a surprise to anyone, and on Monday, Fitz had gotten a visit from Dean Coulson to tell him the news that he was recommended for tenured. So after a rather awkward hug with his boss and his colleagues congratulating him all day, Fitz had gone to celebrate with Jemma at his favorite restaurant. The best part being that it was really close to Stanford. Which Fitz didn't care about now because Jemma was no longer a student at the University and hadn't been his for more than six months. Fitz had enjoyed holding her hand and kissing her very romantically under the lights of the street lamps . 

But the next day, she'd received a call from a company who wanted to meet for an interview for a job as head of the science division. Which, in Jemma's case, meant that they were for sure going to offer her the job. She hadn't had a single interview that didn't end with a very generous offer. She was too brilliant not to. This was her dream job with very good pay and a company that had a very good reputation. It was all perfect really. Except that it was in Boston all the way across the country. 

She'd had plenty of interviews recently, some for some very interesting jobs, but not one as good as this one. So she caught a plane on Thursday morning, spent all afternoon with the people from the company and texted Fitz before bed, telling him they had to talk about something when she got home. 

And here he was on Friday afternoon, waiting for her at the airport, prepared (or at least he thought so) to hear that she, of course, had accepted the job and whatever that meant for them. He'd debated with himself about whether he should come or wait for her at home to have this conversation somewhere quiet, but it felt like it had been too long already and he just couldn't take it anymore. He would have just looked at his watch every five minutes and done nothing productive.

Her plane was right on time and in typical Jemma fashion, she was one of the first out of the gate, looking as fresh and rested as usual. She beamed at him the moment she laid eyes on him and hurried out so that she could wind her arms around his neck and kiss him. Fitz almost got lost in it but it was kind of ruined by the nagging thought of how bad it would be when she left for Boston for good if he had missed her that much when she was only gone two days. 

"Fitz," she let out softly as she pulled back. "I'm so happy to see you but you didn't have to come all the way to the airport."

"That's alright, I just... I didn't want to wait."

"Oh. Of course," she said, her smile faltering slightly as she bit her lip in a nervous gesture he'd come to recognize. "Come on, then."

She took his hand and he was quick enough to grab the handle of her suitcase before her. She rolled her eyes lightly but let him do it as she led him away from the biggest crowd to a waiting area where there were a few unoccupied seats. This wasn't the best place to have such an important conversation but he might have to start getting used to airports anyway. 

"So, how did the interview go?" he asked, knowing it was almost a rhetorical question at this point. 

"Ah hum… very well. They liked me and the job is really fantastic, just as good as it sounded when I talked to them on the phone. The people seemed nice so—"

"So, they offered you the job, right?" Fitz cut her off, smiling and trying to look happy for her instead of sad. 

"They did and that's why I—"

"You should take it. It's you dream job. We can do long distance, or maybe I can find another job in a bit and—"

"I already gave them my answer."

"Oh," he simply said, looking down to give himself some time to swallow his disappointment and be the supportive boyfriend she needed.

That made sense, again, it was the perfect job and he was just about to tell her to accept the job but it still hurt that she came to the same conclusion without talking about it with him. She cupped his cheek and forced him to look up at her. 

"I don't want to do long distance, Fitz," she said and he could swear he felt his heart break into a million pieces in the few seconds it took her to finish her sentence. "Which is why I refused their offer." 

"What? But you, but you…" 

There were too many emotions and thoughts fighting inside him at the moment for one of them to make it out coherently. Relief, joy, guilt, confusion and so much more. 

"I don't want to live so far away from you, Fitz."

"Then, I'll look for another job and join you there. It's so perfect for you, you can't say no to that."

"Well, I already did."

"I'm sure you can call them to say that you changed your mind and—"

"Fitz, no!" she cut him off, her harsher tone taking him by surprise. "It's done and you should know I don't easily change my mind once it's made up. You just got tenured, you can't leave your job now."

"But the job's perfect and it's exactly why you came to Stanford to get that degree. I'm not worth all this, I—"

"You're right, that's exactly why I came to Stanford but I found something else there as well. I found you, Fitz."

"Oh Jemma… but what about your career? I don't want you to regret your decision when—"

"Fitz, do you want me to leave?" she cut him off, looking at him expectantly like there was even a tiny chance that he would.

"Of course, I don't. You know how much I love you, I never want to be without you, Jemma." 

"Good cause I said yes to another job. The one in San Francisco."

"But I thought the pay wasn't as good as what you expected."

"It wasn't but I called them, told them what Exxon Lab offered but that I'd rather stay in San Francisco. Stayed another two hours on the phone but they finally matched their offer." 

"Wow, Jemma, I-I… don't know what to say…"

"Tell me congratulations on the new job."

Fitz laughed and pressed a resounding kiss to her lips before pulling her into a hug. 

"Congratulations on the new job, Jemma," he whispered into her ear. "You're amazing." 

She tightened her arms around him for a moment before pulling back to look into his eyes. 

"You're not so bad yourself," she said, taking his hand in hers. "Deep down I knew I wouldn't take that job but I think I needed to go so I wouldn't wonder about it forever. When they offered the job, telling me they could help me settle and find an apartment, I saw myself alone in it and I just… I knew that wasn't what I wanted."

"So, this job in San Francisco, you're a hundred percent sure? It really is a good one, right?" 

"Yes, Fitz," she said, with a slight roll of her eyes but tender smile. "It's much better than the one I had, the money is now fantastic, I'll have many more responsibilities, the projects are really interesting and it had you in the deal so…" Fitz blushed and her smiled turned a little mischievous. "And your place happens to be really close so you know, if you wanted to, I could come more often and then—"

"Come live with me!"

"Oh thank god!" she let out with a big relieved sigh. "I didn't want to say it because I didn't want you to feel obligated to do it because I stayed but it just didn't make sense for me to—"

He cut her off with a kiss, this one more passionate as he pulled her close and she slipped her hands into his hair, moaning lightly as he deepened it. It earned them a whistle and a few laughs as they were still in a very public place but Fitz couldn't care less. The whole board of the university could be watching and the kiss would have only redoubled in intensity. He had a job he loved, his best friends were happier than they had ever been, he had a girlfriend he loved more than anything and now he was going to see her every morning when he woke up and every evening when he came home. Life was perfect and he wanted to celebrate.

-0-0-0-

"So what are celebrating already? I kind of lost count," Bobbi said, giving her glass filled with some green substance a disgusted look before putting it on the coffee table and sitting next to Fitz. 

He chuckled as he turned to face her. 

"Well, my tenure, Jemma's new job, us moving in together and the fact that I won a hundred bucks from Hunter." Bobbi lifted her eyebrows. "I mean that you're pregnant," he added and she swatted his arm. 

"I can't believe you two bet on that!"

"Hey, calm down! It was a long time ago, during break up number three if I remember correctly. He was all dramatic, and probably drunk, and I told him you'd get back together, be married and have a baby before I even found a girlfriend. And he said that was ridiculous and he bet there was a better chance of him getting a big belly before you did."

Bobbi rolled her eyes but nodded towards where Hunter was helping Jemma make some guacamole in what was now hers and Fitz's kitchen, beer in hand. 

"He could still catch up, you know. It's like his idea of solidarity is that since I'm eating for two, he should drink for two."

"Hey, is he acting like an idiot again? Do you need me to kick his ass or—"

No, no, I'm good. I was just being bitter because he gets to drink beer and I get to drink... this."

"Jemma means well, you know," Fitz said, eyeing the admittedly not very appealing green drink. "And I'm sure it's full of vitamins and… stuff."

"I know, it's not so bad actually, it's just… not champagne."

"So you're sure about Hunter, yeah? He's not being stupid?" Fitz insisted, the idea of his friend acting anything but the perfect father not sitting well with him. 

"Yes, he's actually pretty great but thank you, you're adorable," she said, giving him a side hug and planting a kiss on his cheek. "You'll be the best godfather this kid could ever have."

"Of course I will," Fitz replied grinning. "I'm taking my role very seriously. I've started him a bank account with that hundred bucks Hunter gave me, by the way." 

"Really?" Bobbi asked, raising her eyebrows in genuine surprise. It was hard to really surprise someone like Bobbi and Fitz felt his heart swell up with pride.

"Yeah, it's not like I'll need it, my wife will be filthy rich with that new job."

"Whaaaaat? Fitz, is there something you forgot to tell me we were celebrating?" 

"What? No, of course, I just, I meant girlfriend obviously." He'd started calling her that in his mind, he had to be careful.

"Fiiiitz?" Bobbi insisted, looking at him like her eyes could drill through his skull to get the information that way. Oh well, he would have told her eventually and, at least, Hunter and Jemma seemed engaged in their conversation and hadn't seemed to notice something was happening here.

"Fine, fine… My mum sent me her old engagement ring the moment I told her we were moving in together. And I've been thinking about it ever since and I just… I really like the idea of calling Jemma my wife. I know right now is too soon but there's this place I wanted to take her for New Year's Eve in a few months, this beautiful little cabin by the lake where we can watch the stars and I thought, maybe—"

"Do it!" Bobbi cut him off. 

"What? But… but you don't think it's too soon?"

"I don't care, it's the most romantic thing I've ever heard, you have to do it! You two are so perfect for each other, you just have to—" 

Bobbi's voice broke and she put her hand before her mouth as she looked away.

"Bob?" Fitz asked, worried. "Are you crying?" 

"No, I'm not… it's the baby." 

"The baby's crying?" 

Bobbi rolled her eyes.

"The baby's making me cry. I blame Hunter. He's the one who usually gets emotional. He must have passed on his genes to the baby." 

"Hu, I don't think it works that way Bob, it's probably just the—"

"Shut up!" she cut him off, putting a finger on his lips. "Now, let me see this ring while those two are busy being English," Bobbi said, nodding towards where Jemma was actually saying something about the box of tea she had in her hands with plenty of enthusiasm. She seemed to sense their eyes on her though because she turned around and gave Fitz one of those bright smiles that still made his heart beat a hundred miles a minute and he let out an actual sigh of happiness. 

Bobbi crept up behind him, her face only an inch from his ear. 

"I'm betting a hundred bucks that she's pregnant before you're married." 

**Two years later**

"So, what are your plans for today, wife?" 

Jemma's lips pulled up as she raised her eyebrows at Fitz through the mirror before turning around. 

"Are you ever going to get tired of calling me that?" she asked. 

Fitz took her hand, intertwining their fingers together before kissing each of her knuckles. 

"Never," he replied with a dopey grin. It had been almost a year but it still felt just as good and a pleasure he had no reason to deny himself.

"Good. me neither." 

She pressed her lips to his before turning back to carry on buttoning up her blouse. 

"So?" Fitz insisted and she rolled her eyes in amusement. 

"Meeting the new consultant."

"Ooooh right. Forgot about that guy. But what with your extra degree and everything, do you really need him?"

"Maybe not. But he's supposed to be the best engineer out there."

"Yeah?"

"I have my reservations," she replied, her tone falsely casual. "But if he really is that good, I might try and tempt him into joining my company long term."

"Oh yeah? How? I thought he was pretty happy with his job." 

"Well, Fitzsimmons Tech is still young but we're growing."

"You certainly are," Fitz said, winding his arms around her waist, his hands now barely able to reach each other over her rounded belly.

"I can be persuasive," she said, her voice lowering to a register that made him feel suddenly much warmer as she leaned into him.

"Are you trying to make me jealous?" he whispered in her ear.

"Is it working?"

"Depends. How long till you have to finish getting dressed?" he asked, easily starting to undo each of the buttons she'd just done as they made the fabric stretch over her skin now. She would soon have to buy new ones as even the loose ones couldn't quite contain her belly or breasts anymore. He couldn't quite decide which of these facts made him more happy. She sighed as she turned around, her lips ghosting his.

"I can give you twenty minutes." 

"I can work with that."

She pushed the blouse off her shoulders and her bra had popped open before she could turn around fully in his arms.

"I certainly hope so."

-0-0-0-

"Mr Fitzsimmons, please stop looking at my breasts and let's get to work." Fitz blushed and looked away as she continued talking while setting up the holotable. "As a university professor, I expected more restraint from you… but after all, I did hear you had quite a reputation of seducing women with your pretty face and fancy suits…"

"But Jem," he whined. "They're very visible now and you were bending over."

Jemma rolled her eyes. 

"Not an excuse. And didn't you had enough this morning?" 

It had indeed been a wonderful way of starting what he had no doubt would an even more wonderful day. And even though it had barely been an hour or so, the memory woke… something in him. It was like her hormones going a little crazy these days were contagious. Or maybe it was just her being too perfect.

"I never have enough of you," he said, taking her hand to pull her closer. Her expression softened as she went up on her tiptoes and captured his lips in a soft kiss. 

"Adorable, but not now. Or do you want me to find another consultant to work on those surgery assisting robots."

"But they're based on my design."

"I know but I can still find someone else."

Fitz knew she wouldn't really do it but it was their first day of working together on this project and he was planning on a rather nice celebration at the end of the day. So he better be his best self today to make sure his wonderful pregnant wife was happy with him.

"Alright then. Work it is Doctor Doctor Doctor FitzSimmons.”

“You know I technically only have two doctorates, right?” 

“I know,” Fitz replied, grinning. “Third one’s for the baby.”

“Fitz, we won’t put pressure on this baby to have-- Oh!” Jemma put her hands on her belly, as a big smile grew on her face. The baby had started kicking a lot lately and Fitz was starting to think she would be a boxer rather than a doctor but... maybe not.

“Okay, apparently she agrees so I’ll allow it.”

“Thank you,” Fitz said taking a step closer and putting his hand on the other side of Jemma’s belly. “Then, let’s get to work, Doctor Doctor...” There was another kick against his hand. “...Doctor.”


End file.
